Wallace
by TippierCoffee
Summary: In order to not jeopardize their friendship, Wally never confessed to Kuki. Thus she marries someone else and has a son. When complications start to unfold themselves in her marriage, however, Wally practically becomes the only person she can rely on, and the only male her son can look up to.
1. The wedding

**Author: TippierCoffee**

**Disclaimer: I do not own—nor do I claim the rights to—**_**Codename: Kids Next Door**_** or any of its characters. All credit goes to rightful owner: Mr. Tom Warburton. I do, however, own Marcus Gilliam.**

**Enjoy :)**

**If you seem to recognize some of the elements from this story (namely the first two chapters), I'll tell you now. Ages ago, I read a fic similar to the one I'm writing here, and I vaguely remembered some of the elements. I have let myself inspire from those elements, and I'm really hoping this won't seem like a complete rip-off. If you want to check out the fic that inspired me, search for author ****_FuckMePumps_**** and find the story ****_I'll Be_**** (huge thanks to Tater06 for reminding me/finding it).**

**Ps. The age in the brackets, is the age of Wally and Kuki. Marcus is one year older than both of them.**

* * *

The wedding.

June 29th (25)

The church bells rang loudly over the city, signaling this was the last chance to enter the church to witness the wedding which was about to take place. If Wally had been a woman, he would be in the dressing room with Kuki, probably walking in some time before her, and standing first in line beside her, as her maid—or matron—of honor. Depending on whether or not he would have been married himself if he were a woman. But instead he was caught in the third row of benches, reserved for her family and friends, because that was all he was to her—thanks to his own fears of losing such a precious friendship.

At the alter stood a tall man, probably somewhere around a hundred and eighty two centimeters tall, his dark auburn hair perfectly parted side ways. He had subtle stubs covering his chins, which looked like they were sucked in a bit because of his high cheekbones. His face was what would be called squared in the art world, and his chin was strong. He had his chest shot forth, his muscles just visible beneath the black tuxedo, which probably cost more than Wally could ever wish to earn. Though the man—called Marcus Gilliam—was smiling, his face still looked pretty stern, and it was very easy to guess his career; lawyer.

Needless to say, when Kuki had went to present him to her family, which she had had Wally help her gather the courage to do, they had been overjoyed. A lawyer was a lawyer, then it didn't really matter that he wasn't of Asian decent; he was rich. He would be able to carry the two of them through a stable life, single handedly, what was there not to like about him?

Sure; since Wally still was in love with Kuki, whom he had known and been close to since they were both fourteen, it had of course hurt a bit when she had presented the guy to him, when they had first started to date. But Wally did the only thing he could do; he hid behind a mask of happiness and congratulated her, and he celebrated her engagement with her, and he helped toss her a crazy hen party, where he was the only male figure attending. Not exactly the funniest thing in the world, but it had been worth it to see Kuki smile. Anything to make her happy, because she was his best friend, which was also why he had never confessed his love for her. What the two of them had was too beautiful to jeopardize over some cruddy feelings. Then rather hold his tongue and ignore his aching heart.

The grand double doors shut close at last, and everyone inside the church went so quiet it was as though you could hear the air move in there.

A lengthy process then followed. First all four groomsmen escorted the grandparents of the bride and groom up to the very front rows to seat them, then they walked out again just to escort the parents of the soon-to-be husband and wife—safe for Kuki's father—to the very same row, then they left and entered a third time. This time only three groomsmen walked in, side by side with the three maids, and then the best man came walking along with the maid of honor. After that came some young boy—probably around ten—who was the groom's youngest nephew, carrying the rings on a small velvet pillow, and after that came Mushi, skipping along with a basket of flower petals.

Although, technically, Mushi was considered too old to actually be the flower girl, and even one year too old to be considered a junior bridesmaid—she was nineteen after all—she still scattered the flowers with precision and a wide smile on her face. Partly because she had always had a secret wish to be Kuki's flower girl at the day of her wedding, and partly because she was the only young female Kuki had a close bond to. It would be pretty weird walking up to a random stranger to ask if they could lend their daughter for their wedding, and Kuki's cousins were also a bit too old, and not as tightly connected to her as they could have been.

Mushi joyfully swayed around scattering pink flower petals onto the wooden floors, and Wally found himself feeling slightly sorry for whoever had to clean that up after everyone had left the building, just to go to the reception, or party, or whatever-it-was after wards.

At last, the pianist started playing the infamous _Here comes the bride_ tune, which everyone of course knew was their cue to stand up. Wally shook the last of his hurt feelings aside with a deep inhale and stood up, tall and unbreakable; though only on the outside.

The obnoxiously loud piano roared through the building, which seemed to send the walls trembling, and though the tunes were loud and a bit hurtful for the ears, one look at the bride shot everything else out; she was absolutely stunning.

A sleeveless long ivory dress, the top bending down in a heart shape, where the right side of the fabric gently crossed over to the left side. The skirt of the dress ended just below the middle of her shins, and was sown to look like it was wavy, with laces at the bottom. By the belt area, three rows of fake diamonds were sparkling. Around her neck she wore a shimmering necklace, also made up of fake—or maybe they were real—diamonds, catching the light and reflecting it. Her hair was in a bun at the middle of the back of her head, a veil tied to the bun by a hair band which looked like it was made of—you guessed it—diamonds.

Her angled autumn colored eyes shimmered with happiness, challenging the diamonds. Her lips were sparkling with a soft pink lip gloss, her cheeks subtly coated with a bright red rouge, while golden eyeshadow glimmered just below her brows. She turned her eyes a bit, caught his, and send him the happiest smile he could ever remember having seen on her. When he smiled back at her, he was sure he had all but forgotten how to breathe for a moment, and his eyes filled with the affection he was so desperately trying to deny he had for her. A brief flash of him at the groom's place send his heart thrusting against his chest before sinking to his guts when his attention was caught back to the real world.

He quickly took his seat, almost tripping over himself in his haste, and the priest started the long and boring ceremony of words and promises. Promises that few kept, and Wally really hoped Marcus was one of those; or he would see to teaching the man a lesson or two. They were slowly nearing the point of the ceremony where the priest would encourage people to speak up if they had a problem with this marriage, and while Wally had considered objecting to it earlier this morning, when he had dressed for the ceremony, he had decided against it in the end. What would he say anyway? _I object because I love this woman_? Kuki would be embarrassed and probably hate him for the rest of her life if he ruined this moment for her. Besides; Marcus looked happy and so did she, and if you really love someone you'd do anything to see them happy. Even if that anything meant watching them marry someone else while you secretly loved them from afar.

In the end, no one objected, the ceremony went on, and the two of them shared the binding kiss—which Wally made sure _not_ to witness. No need to spread salt in the wound, if it could be avoided.

* * *

**So. This is a thing. I remembered the story that inspired this, and my mind went on a trip to story land; thus this happened. It will probably only be a couple of chapters, because I do have a story line, just deciding the highlights so it won't become a long boring bunch of nothingness.**

**Criticism and/or advices on improvements is/are—as always—highly appreciated :)**

**~*~TippierCoffee~*~**

**Ps. I know some are getting annoyed at the stupid amount of 3/4 fics in this fandom, so to you: and apology. I am a shipper of this couple, it's one of my guilty pleasures, and if you want to see something from me—which will not focus on those two—try and check out **_**Operation Reconnect**_ **(trust me, I am trying extremely hard to make that one a non 3/4 fic) or ****_Operation S.E.X_****.**


	2. Wallace

**Author: TippierCoffee**

**Disclaimer: I do not own—nor do I claim the rights to—**_**Codename: Kids Next Door**_** or any of its characters. All credit goes to rightful owner: Mr. Tom Warburton. I do, however, own Marcus Gilliam.**

**Enjoy :)**

**Ps. The age in the brackets, is the age of Wally and Kuki. Marcus is one year older than both of them.**

* * *

Wallace.

February 28th (25 (going 26))

Street lights flew by Wally's car as he drove as fast as he could—without speeding—to get to the hospital. It had only been half a minute since Kuki send a text to him, wherein she informed that she was now going into labour, and her dear husband was of course not there. Only about two months had passed since their marriage when Marcus had started becoming absent and working extreme hours. In the start, he'd rather take his work home with him to spend some time with his wife, but now. Now he seemed to love finding excuses to stay away from her. As if the only reason to marry her, had been to make sure no one else would taker her away from him, and once he had gotten comfortable in that belief, she was more or less his little slave.

Of course, when Wally came to the traffic light, the red bulb lit up and bathed the streets in its dim lights. Wally found himself tossing profanities under his breath while his thoughts flew to the reception and the time after Marcus' and Kuki's wedding.

The reception had been pretty standard, Marcus and Kuki had been dancing to the _Bridal Waltz_, while smiling affectionately at each other. After that Kuki had been dancing with her father, but halfway in Marcus had cut in and danced with Kuki once more, and after that Marcus had gone to dance with one of his younger nieces, while Kuki had been giggling with her cousins, who seemed to compete who could admire her ring more. Apparently it was white gold with a small fourteen carat diamond or something.

At some point, Kuki had apparently gone to ask Marcus if he minded her dancing with Wally; they _were_ best friends after all, and much to Wally's surprise, Marcus had said okay. So Kuki had gone the untraditional route and asked him up, apologizing for leaving him behind. Of course, Wally had just shook his head at her back then and said it was okay, though he was actually very glad she came to apologize. It showed she still did care for him, and they had danced together while conversing and laughing, and his mind had been screaming at him, and scolding him for never asking Kuki out. Maybe it could have been him at the groom's place, and he could be a little happier, and suddenly he became aware of his thoughts and shook them aside just in time to hear Kuki tell about their driver getting ill the morning of the wedding, so they had no one to drive them to the airport.

Determined to be there for Kuki whenever she needed something, just like he had promised her those many years ago during their early friendship, he offered take the driver's place and take them to the airport so Marcus and Kuki could catch their flight. If he recalled correctly, their honeymoon had been in Venice or something like that, must have been a real nice trip.

Then they had come back, about two months had passed by, and suddenly Marcus just didn't care—or so it seemed in Wally's eyes.

The light finally flickered green and Wally drove off, still somewhat deep in thought, remembering the whole ordeal he had somehow been involved in; probably because he was Kuki's closest and most trusted friend.

He remembered how about a month a go, on a dark and stormy night, Kuki had come to his house, devastated and in tears. She had either been taking the bus, a cap, or walked there, because there was no vehicle when she arrived. Just her and her cheeks glistening with tears.

"Kuki, what's wrong?" He'd asked, giving her a look of concern while letting her in.

"The power went out." She sobbed, as another bolt of lightning tore apart the sky, making her whimper in response.

Wally had long ago found out his candles and whatever else he had been able to find that didn't run on electricity, the moment the power went, and he knew Kuki well enough to know she would have done the same, so why hadn't she?

"I know that." He had said, his voice full of confusion while he closed the door and she sat down on his couch. "So why are you here and not at home, having a romantic time or whatever with your husband?"

"Pf!" She'd snorted. "As if he's there. He apparently got called out to a court in another state and will be staying there for a week." She crossed her arms over her breasts, now full of milk for the fetal that had cause her belly to grow round.

Wally had taken a seat next to her, trying not to focus too much on her belly because he knew what had made it grow, and it kind of pained him to think of Kuki in bed with another man.

-_Another man?_- He had scolded himself. -_Marcus is not 'another man', he's her husband you cruddy doofus!_-

"It's like he doesn't care anymore, Marcus." Kuki had continued after some silence. "I mean, in the start he seemed so happy and all, but after we got married it's like he started slipping further and further away. I tried talking to him about it, when he, day after day, worked extra hours and stayed at the office until almost midnight, you know what he did?" She hadn't waited for his answer, and Wally hadn't been bothered by it, because she needed to let this out, so he was going to listen to her. "He scolded me! Talking about how I just stay at home doing nothing. I practically just finished my nurse education, and jobs don't exactly come easy, but he still seems to think he's a lot better than me, just because he got hired almost straight after he finished his university degree.

"A couple of days a go I tried to convince him to go on maternity leave to support me. I mean, I'm pregnant eight months already and he doesn't bat an eye! All he does is scold me for staying home while I'm pregnant and calling me lazy, and then suddenly he starts blabbering about a DNA test of the baby when it comes, because he's apparently convinced himself I'm having an affair with you."

Wally was abruptly brought back to the road when he almost crashed into another driver because he was too busy being lost in thought. The driver yelled at him and cussed at him, while Wally apologized quickly, turned down a road, and parked his car at the hospital parking lot.

It took him less than two minutes to park, enter, find a nurse and ask where Kuki Gilliam—he almost called her Sanban by accident—was. After spending more than half a minute answering pointless questions about who he was and how he knew Mrs. Gilliam, and why the husband wasn't there, Wally could finally walk down the halls towards the room Kuki was in; which he did with steady steps.

Determined to not make Kuki wait any longer than she already had, he gently knocked the door where she was, a nurse opened it, he introduced himself and soon after that he heard Kuki's soft, yet exhausted voice.

"Let him in." She said. He could practically hear the joy and hurt in her voice.

"Hey." Wally smiled, as he entered and pulled a chair over to her side. He saw she was trying to hold tears back and hide them behind a smile. Guessing from her expression she wasn't exactly disappointed in seeing him, but she had probably been hoping her husband would have had the audacity to tell people his wife was giving birth to their son.

"Marcus is not coming, is he?" Kuki shook her head, breathing in heavily through her nose.

"Even though they said I shouldn't be due until around March 4th, he knew I was going to give birth very soon, and he still took a job in another state again. I can't believe him." She led out a sob, while Wally found out the Kleenex tissues he had put in his pocket from home. "I mean, I am giving birth to our child here, and all he does is work! I know, I know. He does it so we won't need anything and all that, but he would get paid if on maternity leave, he would! Still, he just works after hours and take as a many jobs as possible in other states.

"I am so scared Wally" She finally broke down and started crying. "He left me here alone to give birth, not even caring to help me through it, and yet you come within ten minutes." Bitter tears of regret streamed down her face.

"Of course I'd come." Wally said softly, handing her a tissue while giving her his best _stay brave_ smile. She smiled as she took it to wipe the tears off her face. "We're best friends, and I know I first said this when we were like fifteen, but I was as serious about it then as I am now. If you ever need anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to call me."

Kuki send him an affectionate smile, and it seemed as though she was trying to tell him something with her eyes, which she doubted she could ever tell him in words. It was such a silly thing really. He was always there, and he had always been; yet she had chosen another man to spend the rest of her life with. A man who suddenly seemed to give no care about her what's so ever.

"I was thinking." She sighed, heaving in as pain flooded her body. She was starting to get regular contractions already, and chances were the baby _would_ be delivered tonight. "I would kind of like you to be his God father, but I doubt Marcus will like that, so maybe… Fff— Maybe, you'd like to be his uncle?" She heaved once again, and even though he was somewhat absent minded, and quite sure his heart was beating loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, he heard a nurse say something about making ready for the baby.

"Sure." He sighed, a smile spreading across his face. "I'd like that."

* * *

10 pm.

Almost fifteen minutes later, after excruciating pain—and screams filling up the room—the boy was finally out of the womb. His cries did not exactly help the state of Wally's ears, seeing as his hand had been squeezed almost dead, and his head had been yanked down next to Kuki's. Yet, when the boy was out, the headrest of Kuki's bed had been raised, and even though she looked exhausted and was sweating, she smiled as the boy was placed in her arms.

"Look at him." She whispered, her voice coated in affection. "Isn't he gorgeous?"

Although Wally thought newborn babies looked more like minced meat, being modeled into a second grader's idea of what an alien looked like, it would of course be extremely rude to actually say that, so Wally just settled with saying what was customary to say.

"Yeah, he looks pretty healthy I suppose. I'm not an expert on that area though." Kuki giggled a little by his silly comment, then she looked at him, her autumn coloured eyes sparkling in the lights.

"Thank you, Wally."

"What for?"

"For always being here. It means a lot to me."

"Any time. You're my best friend, I'd do anything for you." This earned him and even bigger smile and for a moment he had the strangest urge to lean in and kiss Kuki, but his mind kept yelling at him, reminding him she was a married woman, who had just given birth to a child that had nothing to do with him, other than he was going to be called uncle by the boy. "What will you call him?"

"I was thinking Wally." She smiled, which had such an effect on Wally, the world seemed to stop spinning for a moment.

"You… You were going to name him after me?" He asked breathlessly.

"Well yeah. Unless, you don't like the idea of that?"

"No, no, it's not that, I just… I mean… Your husband already thinks you and I have an affair. Naming a baby after me won't exactly please him I believe. Also; won't it be a bit confusing if I'm his unrelated uncle, and then you call us both Wally?" Kuki pouted, then bit her lip softly before looking up at him again.

"Then I don't really know." She said, disappointment showing subtly in her eyes. It made Wally feel a bit guilty about his words even though they had been honest, and both of them knew the reaction he had foreseen from Kuki's husband was the truth.

"How about Wallace then?" He blurted out. "I mean, it has the potential to have Wally as a nickname, and it won't be confusing; I suppose."

"Wallace?" Kuki poundered, then she looked down to the boy in her arms before smiling widely. "Hello Wallace."

* * *

**So, I know I'm jumping around a bit, but I hope it's not confusing. If it is, let me know. Like I said in previous chapter, this story will mainly be the highlights, and not so much what's in between (unless it's important for the plot).**

**Still; criticism and/or advices on improvements is/are highly appreciated and very welcome :)**

**~*~TippierCoffee~*~**


	3. Complications

**Author: TippierCoffee**

**Disclaimer: I do not own—nor do I claim the rights to—**_**Codename: Kids Next Door**_** or any of its characters****. All credit goes to rightful owner: Mr. Tom Warburton. I do, however, own Marcus Gilliam and Wallace Gilliam.**

**Enjoy :)**

**Ps. The first age in the brackets, is the age of Wally and Kuki. The second age, is the age of Wallace. Marcus is one year older than both Wally and Kuki.**

* * *

Complications.

July 10th (27 . 1)

He hadn't seen Kuki since Wallace's birthday, where Marcus—very reluctantly—had let him come along, and only because he was Kuki's closest friend and Wallace's unrelated uncle. Marcus had kept shooting death glares in Wally's direction no matte what he had done.

First it was because he was playing a little with Wallace, or so he thought, because he had stopped when he had seen how dissatisfied Marcus seemed with him. Even so—when he had stopped playing with Wallace—Kuki's 'loving husband' had just kept glaring at him. His eyes cold and full of anger, or maybe it had been jealousy. Or maybe even both.

The heavy July shower kept roaring outside, and because of the tensity of the rain, raindrops kept hammering against his window, making him feel incredibly impatient, even though he actually wasn't. He slumped down onto his couch and took out his cell phone once again, remembering how he also hadn't heard a single word from Kuki ever since he wished her happy birthday on May third. He had been checking it over and over and over, ever since he had gotten home almost two hours ago.

Five fifty pm, and still not a single word from Kuki. Not in form of text, email, call, letter, anything! A snort escaped him as he leaned his head backwards with the realization that Kuki either didn't care about him, or Marcus didn't want her to. Whichever it was, it didn't change the fact that he had texted her almost all day for a couple of days now—she was his best friend after all, so of course he worried a great deal about her.

It annoyed him to no end, how the only thing he had done back then was wish her happy birthday, but she had never answered, and when he had gotten worried and asked about how she was, and if she was okay, she still hadn't said a single word.

With a groan Wally ruffled his hair and got up with heavy steps, aiming for the kitchen so he could make himself some dinner. Stopping his own life just because he worried about Kuki was not going to do him any good what's so ever.

He hardly got to find out a pot before frantic knocking came from his door, in a never ending loop, getting louder and louder. Whoever was knocking seemed desperate for him to open his door.

He let out a heavy sigh before ruffling his blonde locks once again, then he went a peeped through the peeping eye. However, his annoyance was replaced with concern and a need to open the door when he saw who was on the other side.

Soaked to the bone, with tears glistening on her chin, and her head hanging low as if to hide her face, Kuki stood outside. One hand firmly held onto a pram, where Wallace most likely lay, and the other hand kept hammering the door repeatedly. It looked like she had some trouble breathing, as though she had been running as fast as she could, without falling over and knocking Wallace out of the pram.

Wally decided he wouldn't waste more time than he already had, and though something deep inside him felt hurt that he was only good enough for Kuki's attention when she was in a pinch, or hurting a lot, he let her in nonetheless, his eyebrows furrowed upwards.

Once he opened the door, she lifted her head to his and let her eyes meet his. For a moment his confusion remained, then he felt how his body started burning and his fists started shaking, while rage took over his body. He could feel tears prick at the back of his eyes, making them burn just as hard as his chest, and he clenched his jaws while trying to calm his breath. He loudly let air in his nose, just to blow it out his mouth, and then he let her in.

His anger did not dim when she pushed the pram inside of his house and he noticed a suitcase on the grid underneath the 'bed'. Not because she had taken the pram and Wallace with her, not even because she had taken a packed suitcase with her—heck, he was actually glad she had, or he would have gone to her house himself to get her stuff. No, what made his anger rise and flood everything within him, was when the lights caught her round face and everything became clearer beneath her dripping hair and soaked clothes.

Her left cheekbone was slightly swollen and a black bruise—literally black—spread from her cheek bone, to beneath her eye, around the outer corner of her eye. There was a small bloody gash on her bottom lip, and dried blood rested below her nose, which looked red, but not broken. Her eyes were blood shot, and he led her to the couch where she sat down while crying in misery and shaking all over.

"What happened?" Wally asked her, taking off the rain cover from atop the pram, and lifting up Wallce. He looked tired, yet healthy enough, and he luckily didn't have any bruises like his mother did.

Kuki didn't answer, not even when he sat down next to her with Wallace on his lap, supporting him with one hand, so he could put his other hand on her shoulder to let her know he was there for her. Like he always would be, regardless of her being in distress or not.

"Kuki." He gently cupped her chin and led her head in his direction, forcing her eyes to meet his. Even when she was crying they looked beautiful—that did not make him like the sight of her shedding tears however; not one bit. He let out a sigh and shook his head lightly while letting go of her chin. "You should take a shower and change to dry clothes. You'll catch your death. I'll start making dinner for us in the meanwhile, for Wallace too."

She stood up to leave, then looked back at him with apologetic eyes, before going to find her trunk and taking out some dry clothes.

"Towels are in the closet in my room, in case you want one that's not been used." Wally called after her, while he watched her go upstairs. When she was at the top, she looked back over her shoulder and shot him a smile of gratitude; yet no words escaped her lips.

"Wally." Wallace's small voice cheered from the couch, causing him to look down at the small boy.

It was easy to see he was the son of his parents. Messy auburn hair, and autumn coloured eyes. A round face, which would probably become more squared as he grew, and the same snub nose Kuki had.

"Hey you." Wally smiled, sitting down next to the boy. "How are you doing?"

"Good." Wallace smiled.

"Oh yeah? How about your dad?"

"Rawr!" Wallace lifted his arms and shaped his hands like hooks, as if imitating a T-rex.

"Roar, huh?" Wally wasn't exactly sure what to make of that, but it didn't exactly sound like something positive to him. Then again, maybe he could just be imagining things, and he should maybe just allow himself to be naïve enough to believe Kuki had gotten hurt at work or something. "What about your mum?"

"Sad." Wallace pouted.

"Why?" It was really not his place to snoop, and he didn't mean to. He was just worried, that was all.

"Bam! Au…" Wallace started kicking his feet to the couch with a little smile before crawling to the floor, and then he hit the table with the palm of his hands while giggling. "Bam! Bam!"

Wally let out a sigh while picking up the boy—feeling a bit relieved that little kids didn't understand the world so well—then he placed him softly on the couch. So it _had_ been his first guess, and he _was_ going to have to confront Kuki about it, but for now, he should probably prepare dinner; just like he had said he would.

"Say, little man." Wally smiled, picking up the remote. "What do you like to watch?"

For a moment Wallace looked to him with big eyes, then let out a little laughter before humming the start of the Rainbow monkey tune. Wally shook his head a little, while finding the channel that send the show. Of course he would like the show; Kuki was, after all, his mother.

* * *

Cutlery scraped against plates while silence coated the air. Wally hadn't nagged Kuki about the bruises yet, but he was planing to later tonight, when Wallace had been put to bed; no need to scare the kid by causing a scene. Wally had had a hell of a time finding out the baby chair, which Kuki had given him somewhere around October last year, when she had asked him to babysit Wallace for the day, while her and Marcus went to have some time together.

Wallace was currently the only one making a sound, not words mind you. But it did bring a smile to Wally's face to hear the boy make airplane sounds, while pretending his mashed and minced food was travelling on an airplane, and his mouth was the final destination. It made him calm down and he felt himself filling up with the weirdest affection for the boy. Not that he hated the lad, he was actually quite found of him.

"Wallace, would you please stop doing that and eat properly?" Kuki asked tiredly. Finally she spoke!

"I don't mind it." Wally commented, looking to Wallace once again, who had a pout upon his small lips while eating with the best manners Wally had ever seen a one-year-old have.

Silence fell over them once again, before Wally let out a sigh when he realized he really couldn't wait any longer to ask Kuki about why she had come over the way she had. Not that he minded her being there of course, and he did kind of like the idea of her staying for a lengthier period of time—though he hated to admit that to himself.

"Care to explain this to me?" He asked softly, gesturing his fork to her face.

"What do you mean?" She asked, chewing her food, while pretending she didn't know what in the world he was talking about.

"Well. For one, I haven't heard from you since your birthday, and then you suddenly stand in my doorway, soaked to the bone, after having run a marathon in the pouring rain." Kuki was about to interrupt him, so he raised his voice a little. "Not only that, but you come to me, bruised and battered, and then you have the audacity to still not talk to me or tell me anything what's so ever, and I have to ask your son who, in his own way, suggests that your husband has been beating you. So what the fffabulous is going on?" Wally mentally gave himself a facepalm for disguising a cuss with something as ridiculous as the word _fabulous_, but it was better than exposing fragile toddler ears to cusses.

For a moment, Kuki chew her bottom lip softly, then she looked to Wallace, then to Wally. Her eyes coated with guilt, though there seemed to be a hint of some sort of gratitude in there—it was hidden safely behind an ocean of annoyance however.

"It's just a phase." She muttered, preoccupying herself with chewing her food.

"Is that so?" Wally scoffed. "And how long has this 'phase' been going on?"

"It's really nothing Wally."

"How long, has it been going on?" Kuki subtly shuffled her feet under the table while spinning her fork in soft circles above one of her beans. "How long?" Wally repeated impatiently.

"Look, it's nothing you need to worry about." She muttered, stuffing her face once again so she would hopefully be unable to answer him if he asked her anymore questions. She knew it was pointless though. Wally might have a temper, but he could also be extremely patient if he set his mind to it.

"Nothing I need to worry about? Nothing I need to worry about?!" He lost his temper and slammed his fist into the table. "Damn it Kuki, you're my best friend, of course I need to worry about this!"

"No you don't! This has nothing to do with you!"

"Nothing to do with me?! If this has nothing to do with me, then why the fun did you bother coming here to me in tears? Did you come here to test my promise, or maybe you came here to step all over my loyalty?!"

"I never stepped all over your loyalty!"

"No?!" He was about to explode. Not only had she come to him in tears and expecting him to not ask her, she also seemed determined to feed him lie after lie. "That's rich Sanban! To me it seems you have done nothing but. Ever since you got married to Marcus, I'm only good enough when you need a cruddy favour!"

Kuki was just about to scream to him that her last name was actually Gilliam now, and not Sanban, but every fiber inside her shattered when her son started crying out loud in fear because of the raised voices.

"Stop!" Wallace begged, tears and snot streaming down his face. He was starting to hyperventilate and his breath was coming out in small hiccups, then he covered his ears with his small hands. "No more."

Wally sighed in defeat and felt every bit as shattered as Kuki did, that didn't stop him from shooting her a nasty glare however. As if it could correct his own wrongs of not saving this topic until later, like had had originally planned to. He loudly heaved in, while Kuki looked down in shame and tears of her own formed. Then he stretched his hands to Wallace and softly touched his palms to the boy's small hands, before carefully removing them.

"Hey champ." He whispered softly, removing his hands to cup Wallace's small face with one hand, and dry his tears with the thumb of the other. "Look at me. I'm sorry, okay? We didn't mean to scare you like that."

Wallace kept weeping his tears and looking terrified, so Wally did the only thing he could think of. He lifted Wallace from his baby chair—which he really needed to sell so he could get a high chair instead—and placed him on his lap, before pressing him softly into his chest. Tenderly, Wally stroked Wallace's auburn hair while hushing him and rocking him softly back and forth.

"Calm down champ." He whispered. "We just got a little mad at each other, that's all. No need to cry. There's nothing to be scared of."

Kuki looked up from her place and found her heart racing in her chest as she watched the scene before her. Blurry as it was, it soothed something deep inside her so much that she found herself calming down along her son. Wallabee Beetles would make a great father one day; that much was easy to see.

"So." Wally spoke softly, turning his attention to Kuki, while still holding Wallace in the embrace. "How long has this 'phase' been going on?" For a moment Kuki shuffled nervously, then she looked to the table because she'd decided it would be much easier to confess this way, than actually looking Wally in the eyes.

"A couple of months." She shrugged, trying to pretend it was less than it actually was.

"A couple of—" Wally was just about to snap again, but the now-calm Wallace was reminding him that, that might not actually be such an amazing idea, so he calmed himself and spoke more softly. "And how long are you going to let this; 'phase' continue?"

Again, Kuki gave him a shrug of her shoulders, seemingly indifferent. Her eyes never left the table, and Wally knew her well enough to know, that she herself understood this was something she should not let continue.

"I'm sure it's just because he's stressed." She whispered carefully. Trying to convince herself more than him.

"I think you're lying to me." Wally stated simply. "You and I both know this is not a phase, and it has nothing to do with stress. The fact that you have not contacted me in ages makes me believe it has to do with me, and his constant jealousy.

"Is he still convinced we're having an affair or something?"

"Something like that." Kuki sighed, this time in defeat. It would not help her to deny everything to herself or him, the whole point of coming here was to tell the truth and ask for advice. Not to cover behind a fairytale story she had made up herself. "I guess it started with your birthday text, and then he just kind of lost it. He started blabbering on and on and on about disloyalty and cheating, and he took yet another DNA test on Wallace to make absolutely sure he's his son and not yours. Stupid man. Anyone with eyes can tell Wallace is Marcus' son.

"Then he started forbidding me from texting you, and I found he checked my phone on a daily basis to make sure I didn't. When I put a code on my phone, which you have to type in, in order to see the messages, he hit me for the first time. Scared and hurt I removed it, but I was still too scared to contact you, or anyone for that matter.

"It's like he's successfully cut me off from my family and friends, and I'm scared no one wants to see me if I come to them for help. Like you said, it does seem like I'm using you and stepping all over you; which I _am_ really sorry for. But I guess, tonight, he just went too far for my taste." She controlled her breath and tried to sort out her thoughts before continuing. "He roughed me up, then he drove off, and when he did I knew it'd be my only chance to get away. So I packed my things and I ran all the way here; scared and paranoid he was following me. Terrified you would disown me because I haven't exactly been nice to you.

"You have no idea how relieved I was when you opened the door and let me in, and when you took Wallace off my hands to let me gather myself, and you fixed us a meal, and now. Now you're sitting across of me, comforting _my_ son, who biologically has nothing to do with you, because we scared him when we argued, and all I could do was cry."

Wally shook his head softly feeling a rage boil up inside of him again. He had to do his very best to not let it seep though to his skin so it would scare Wallace even more. He tried with all his might to not raise his voice, to not toss profanities, to not put Wallace back into his chair so he could walk up to Kuki and hold her in his arms instead. It took all his might not to call her a stupid woman before planting his lips on hers. It took all his might, and all his strength, to compose himself to such a degree that he could calmly convince her to divorce her husband, without sounding too pushy about it.

"You do know you deserve a lot better than that; right?" She looked up from her place, curiosity flooding her eyes, then happiness sneaked in.

"I know." She whispered, which seemed to satisfy Wally enough for him to really calm down.

"Good."

* * *

**I do hope the length of this chapter didn't toss you off, it became lengthier than I had originally thought it would (same as previous chapter).**

**Anyhow: criticism and/or advices on improvements is/are highly appreciated :)**

**~*~TippierCoffee~*~**


	4. Feelings

**Author: TippierCoffee**

**Disclaimer: I do not own—nor do I claim the rights to—**_**Codename: Kids Next Door**_** or any of its characters****. All credit goes to rightful owner: Mr. Tom Warburton. I do, however, own Marcus Gilliam and Wallace Gilliam.**

**Enjoy :)**

**Ps. The first age in the brackets, is the age of Wally and Kuki. The second age, is the age of Wallace. Marcus is one year older than both Wally and Kuki.**

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Feelings.

November 1st (27 . 1)

The floorboards creaked softly below their feet when they entered the flat. After coming to the building they had been greeted by a man with the keys to the flat, who had given them instructions as to which room it was—third floor to the right—and then he had told them where they could contact him once they made up their mind, of whether or not they wanted to stay there.

Well, it wasn't actually them who was going to stay there; just Kuki and Wallace. Wally had just agreed to come along with her to look at the flat while Kuki''s parents took care of Wallace.

When they had finally reached their destination, meeting one of the neighbours who asked if they were moving in, they walked into the apartment. It wasn't exactly huge, but it was big enough for Kuki and Wallace. It had two separate bedrooms, one of them a little smaller than the other, and the living room was probably twelve square meters in all. It looked cozy enough, and with the open kitchen mending in one with a small 'dining room', this living room would do just fine. Not to mention the balcony facing green areas outside.

It was a little surrealistic Kuki already stood here, ready to set out on her own after having lend Wally's guest room for herself and Wallace the past couple of months. It was almost surrealistic to think back to being by Kuki's side to support her when she went to her parents to announce she was planning to divorce her abusive now-ex-husband.

From Wally's memory, the divorce hadn't exactly been pretty. Kuki had first told the news to her parents, who—despite knowing divorces were looked down upon in their culture—supported her decision when they saw the state of her face. The bruise had taken more than a month to heal, so when they had went to court two weeks later—Wally just went for moral support and to entertain Wallace in the playroom—her bruise was still there. Luckily not black, but still pretty clear against her milky skin.

There had been yelling when she had told Marcus about wanting a divorce, and because Wally had been there Marcus had of course started spewing profanities, calling Kuki names Wally would rather not remember; while believing Wally's presence to be the solid proof of their so called 'affair'.

Court had been long, and if it Wally hadn't been in the playroom with Wallace, he would probably have been bored half to death in there. Either that, or he would have jumped Marcus and punched him into the next century for neglecting and beating Kuki.

In the end, the divorce had been enforced, Kuki had gotten custody over Wallace—meaning he would probably only see Marcus every two weekend's and on vacations—and Kuki had crashed at Wally's place, because she really didn't want to bother her parents. So it had been, and everyone had gone on with their lives.

"What do you think?" Kuki asked with a soft voice, bringing him back to the flat.

"I like it." Wally admitted, studying the floors and the walls a little more. "Seems like this could be a cozy place for you and Wallace."

"It does." Kuki admitted, chewing the inside of her lip. "There's just one problem I think."

"What's that?" She looked at him with careful eyes, before looking out the grand windows next to the balcony door.

"I have to think ahead you know. I mean, let's face it. There will probably come a day, where I meet someone else I want in my life, and then this just won't do. I don't like the idea of moving around too much, as Wallace will most likely make good friends with neighbours and such, so maybe I should really go for a house about the size of yours, rather than a flat."

"Hm…" Wally thought out loud. "It's a darn shame though. He would have loved this view I think."

"Yeah, he really would." Kuki admitted as she stepped closer to Wally.

For a moment they stood there in silence looking out to the grass field, where a couple of kids were running around and playing football*. Some place a little further down the field, a couple of kids were playing rounders* with a tennis ball, and a little further away from those, some were playing baseball.

"He would have loved it here in general" Wally then said, after some silence. "A lot of kids to play with and such." Kuki let out a giggle before looking at Wally with endearing eyes.

"You really seem to know my son very well."

"Well, we've been bonding." Wally shrugged. "You know that."

"I know." She giggled. "He really likes you."

"Yeah?" Wally chuckled a little to himself while shaking his head. He wasn't exactly sure if Wallace's affection for him would become a problem some day, he hoped not. "I like him too, he's a nice kid."

Kuki thought back to a couple of days ago, where she had insisted on making dinner for them as a token of appreciation—also so Wally shouldn't always have to use his money on the three of them; especially when she was just his roommate at the moment—and Wally had been playing with Wallace. At first they had been sitting in the couch, just watching some cartoons. Captain America, or Iron man or something. Kuki hadn't been entirely sure back then, and still wasn't, but at some point Wally had started teasing her son a bit.

First he was just poking him and 'stealing' his nose, which Wallace didn't seem to know whether he should find amusing, or be frightened about. When he had made big eyes and started to tear up, however, Wally had quickly reassured the boy that he hadn't actually been taking his nose; that it was still there all fine and dandy. Then at some point Wally had started chasing Wallace around, and he had come to the kitchen in fits of laughter, trying to hide behind his mother. But Wally hadn't let that be a reason to stop chasing the boy, and with one quick movement he had picked him up, without pushing or disturbing Kuki, and then he had raised Wallace to the air which had earned him even more laughter.

At some point, Wallace had started chatting Wally, and Wally had started pretending it hurt and he was getting defeated much to Wallace's amusement. Then Wally had somehow fallen to the ground, with Wallace sitting on his chest, and at first he had been chatting Wally's face.

"Whoa little man." Wally had said. "Not the face, that can be a bit dangerous. Here." He'd redirected Wallace's hands to his chest. "Hit here, it's better."

And so, Wallace had continued, while Wally had let out cries of pain and agony in a funny manor, before looking up to Kuki with an outstretched arm, and his face contorted in false pain—which had looked pretty funny, seeing as his eyes were filled with amusement and such.

"Kuki." Wally had gasped, pretending these were going to be the very last words he would ever get to say. "Tell my parents (dramatic inhale) that I love them." And then he had let his head fall to the ground with closed eyes.

Kuki had smiled a warm smile, Wallace had laughed his head off, and later they had been eating, where Wally once again had started teasing Wallace.

Kuki clearly remembered how the same night there had been a thunder storm, and she had been hiding under her covers while weeping a little. She had really been trying to act brave, because she didn't want to unintentionally make Wallace think that thunder and lightning were dangerous when they weren't really—not as long as you were inside anyways.

However, at some point there had been a huge crash, and Kuki had prepared to hear Wallace cry in fear. He was a child after all. But when no sound had escaped Wallace's crib she had gotten worried and went to check on him. Her fear had risen when she learned her son was not laying in his bed—only a couple of months earlier he had somehow managed to teach himself how to climb out of the crib—and she had started looking for him within the room; her fear still rising.

"Wallace? Wallace!" She had tried her best to call out for him silently so as not to wake Wally. But by each passing second, her heart had started pounding harder in her chest, as her fear had gotten bigger and bigger still.

What if her son had hurt himself, or had learned how to open doors and was now outside. Even worse; what if he was outside and had been hit by a car, or the lightning!

She remembered how she, in panic, had started searching for him everywhere in the house, inwardly wishing he was just playing hide and seek with her, but when she had not been able to find him, she had decided to go ask Wally to help her. Back then, her panic had drowned out everything else within her, and she had just been about to shake Wally awake, when her eyes caught the silhouette of a small figure cuddled up next to the man.

A sigh of relief had escaped her lips when she realized it was Wallace, and she felt how her heart started to beat normally again—which was a relief to her ears, where its pounding had been so clear, she at times had been worried she'd go deaf from it.

Her sigh of relief had woken Wally up back then, and he had looked to her tiredly, yet concerned.

"What's wrong?" He had whispered quietly, doing his best not to wake up Wallace.

"Well. The thunder and lightning woke me up, and the I found out Wallace was gone. I had half a heart attack, and I've just been looking all over your house, just to find he has come in here."

"Yeah." Wally yawned. "He came in with tears in his eyes, and shook me awake before telling me he was scared. Then I told him to calm down, and if he wanted to he could sleep here with me. He fell asleep a couple of minutes ago."

A roaring crash had echoed through the night, while the room had been lit up in a blinding flash. Kuki had let out a whimper, and though she was busy having a new heart attack while trembling, a part of her had thought it was a bit weird—yet amazing—how Wallace had just kept sleeping. Probably because he was next to Wally, which was practically the safest place on earth to be.

"I know you're scared and all Kuki, but you should try not to let it show." Wally had whispered to her softly, while padding a free spot on his double bed. "You know kids mimic their parents."

"I know." She had whimpered, sitting down at the edge of the bed, farthest away from him. "It's just hard to hide one of your biggest fears you know."

Wally had nodded softly, and then he had somehow just blurted out if she wanted to stay in there with him too that night. Though he most certainly hadn't meant anything sexual by it, Kuki had felt how she had started blushing, and the lower part of her belly had gone all tingly while her heart had started pounding in her ears again. When the next crash came, she had somehow convinced herself that she wouldn't be able to sleep otherwise, so she had gone back to the guest room to collect her pillow and duvet, then she had lay herself on the second mattress of Wally's double bed, and they had fallen asleep like that with Wallace in between them.

A loud airplane brought Kuki back to the present and she found herself letting out a sigh while looking to the playing kids once again.

"Something wrong?" Wally asked.

"I don't know." She sighed and shrugged. "I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"The thunderstorm the other day. How you really comforted Wallace and was there for him, when I couldn't be, because I was too scared."

"Oh that." Wally snickered. "I don't mind it. I like your kid."

"I know." She smiled, biting her bottom lip softly while silence fell over them.

A few birds were chirping here and there, and the fallen leaves were rustling in the wind. The children at the grass field were laughing, while a few of them were being called home by their parents. Either to get a little to eat, or to be dressed a little warmer. The sky was already starting to darken, and fallen leaves had long since turned brown, while the few leaves that still clung onto their branches seemed to desperately try to remain a dark shade of orange. Most of them had already turned brown however, and the temperatures were typically about ten degrees Celsius.

Kuki hugged herself closely when she felt how she was trembling, and then she rested her head on Wally's shoulder with a little sigh, her thoughts leaving her lips before she could stop them.

"Why did you and I never marry?" She sighed, sadness trying to hide itself from her small voice.

"What?" Wally asked, taken aback by her question. He was quite sure his head must have looked like a tomato, and Kuki was most definitely able to hear his heart, which was now thrusting aggressively against his ribs.

"I…" Kuki stuttered, embarrassed by not having been able to stop herself. How could she have been so blunt and stupid as to actually ask him something like that? What if it would ruin everything between them? "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

For a moment it went quiet again, and Kuki was just about to lean away from Wally. But when she started moving he took a hold of her shoulder, making her stay where she was.

"Don't leave. I like it like this." He admitted softly, focusing on the sky outside. "To answer your question: I guess we never really dated because we just remained friends, so it probably didn't really make any sense to get married."

Kuki found herself surprised that Wally was actually being so calm about this and not freaking balls. She had practically just proposed to him, and he was just taking everything so nicely, and not letting it create an awkward atmosphere between the two of them. How come he seemed to almost always have the right solutions, and taking such good care of her without going out of his way, or changing who he was, still it was like she hadn't given him a chance at all. He had always been there, right from the start. Ready to catch her whenever she fell, ready to share fears and dreams with her, so why had she married someone else? Why hadn't she just opened her eyes to the fact that there had been a man right next to her all along? A man who now took a hold of her shoulders and forced her to look at him; without being violent. A man, who now moved his head closer to hers and she found herself trembling, as he carefully came closer, giving her room to back away.

She didn't want to, didn't know how to. She let him come closer until his lips crashed with hers. Softly, carefully and a little uncertain, and she found herself returning the kiss just before he pulled away—only giving her but a millisecond of tasting the sweetness of his lips.

"Because I love you." He whispered. It sounded silly to her and she opened her mouth to ask how that made any sense, and why in the world he hadn't objected to her marriage then, but he covered her lips softly with his index finger and just gave her a tender smile. "I was always scared to tell you; scared to lose you. This friendship means so much to me, and it always has. I didn't want to ruin anything, and because I love you, I just want to see you happy. And, well; you looked really, really happy at your wedding day, so I bit my tongue and let it be. Because I love you."

She was about to cry, unsure if it was from hurt or joy. So he had been having it too? This fear of losing a precious friendship, and it had been so strong he had never dared to confess to her. Same as her, to the last detail. Except, she hadn't been the one who'd had to endure watching him marry someone else, and having a child with someone else, while hiding her deeply hurt feelings, just for the sake of his happiness. She would probably have done it though, if the roles were reversed; and she would probably have been trying to get along well with his kid as well. She wondered if Wally hurt when he looked at Wallace, if he wished the boy was his, if he build up a momentary fantasy that they were related, or if he just had decided he liked the boy, just because.

Tough she felt like asking him, something stopped her. Did she really need to ask him something like this when they were having a moment? Why couldn't she just instead lean in and kiss him, now the jack was out of the box. She found herself realizing how Wally must have felt anxious about now, only because of her silence because she was lost in thought, and she heard him let out a sigh while he started to soften his grip on her shoulders even more. He was starting to let go.

If he let go of her, then they could risk being stuck here forever. Being nothing more than friends who loved each other on more levels than that, and she didn't want that. Not at all. So she let her body act on its own, act on her desires. Desires she had only recently found was there. Desires that made her grab into his hood sweater and pull him into her before returning his kiss.

"I love you too." She whispered, trying her best to hide her tears. How come she was always so slow at realizing these things? She hadn't even known of the fear the two of them had shared, before Wally had told her what this fear was about.

He gently wiped the tears that escaped her eyes with his thumbs, while cupping her jaw with the palm of his hands. It was like they were meant to be like that, like her jaw and his palms were two puzzle pieces that just fit together. Then he leaned into her again, and she found herself wrapping her arms gently around his neck, while meeting him halfway and letting herself drown in the pleasure of his lips pressed onto hers. Soft and hard at the same time. As though their locked lips could tell a story. A story of two people who had let fear stand in their way, before finally jumping into the ocean, where nothing but the two of them kissing could save them.

A story of chances worth taking because you never knew what would happen, and even if the kiss wouldn't have come, they would eventually had come back to shore and met as friends again.

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**Mush! Cheese! Too. Much. Romance! *barf* (just kidding)**

**Criticism and/or advices on improvement is/are highly appreciated. I'd love to know your thoughts :)**

**~*~TippierCoffee~*~**

***football = soccer. Now you know.**

***rounders. If you don't know this game, let me try and explain it. It's usually played in the U.K, but it is actually one of the most played recess games in Denmark too. Some of its aspects remind a bit of baseball. There are two teams; an out team and an in team, and four bases (in a square). In the actual game there are nine players on each team and point scores. I will, however, explain the Danish recess version of the game.**

**There is a pitcher/stopper, who will stand next to the batter cue and toss the tennis ball you're playing with. But if you're not good at hitting a ball pitched to you, you can decide to pitch it yourself (toss it straight into the air and bat it). You then have to run as many bases as you can, before the ball is tossed back in from the field and the pitcher/stopper yells "stop". If you have not reached a base by stop, you're dead and have to go to the back of the line. If you run all four bases on your own ball, you will free a dead if you have any, and if you don't, you will just have run all four bases (though I heard few play with savings, which means you can save the free until someone dies (we never did that)).**

**By three deaths the two teams swap places, so the in team is now out and vice versa. If your ball is caught before hitting the ground the teams swap places as well. If your ball hits the ground outside the two longitude bases (past the base line), it counts as out, and you count as dead. No one can run on an out ball, so if you had started running (as you can decide to run the moment the ball has been hit), you have to go back to the base you ran from (in the real game you lose one point per person running on an out ball I think).**


	5. Family

**Author: TippierCoffee**

**Disclaimer: I do not own—nor do I claim the rights to—****_Codename: Kids Next Door_**** or any of its characters. All credit goes to rightful owner: Mr. Tom Warburton. I do, however, own Marcus Gilliam and Wallace Gilliam.**

**Enjoy :)**

**Ps. The first age in the brackets, is the age of Wally and Kuki. The second age, is the age of Wallace.**

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A quick thing because I can't PM you:

Guest:

1. No, previous chapter was not the last (as you can clearly see now ;P). There will be about seven chapters all in all for this story.

2. Yes, that is a picture of me, but trust me; my skin is not flawless. My camera is just extremely generous towards me most of the time.

Tater06:

Could you please message me which story it is? I would really like to credit it for inspiration :)

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Family.

July 7th (30 . 4)

Okay. So maybe Wally might have been wrong about how he would be happier in the groom's place, because he was quite sure he would either vomit or piss his pants. Standing up here, a bunch of eyes resting on him, made him nervous and sweaty. Not to mention; the wait was pure torture, and even though he probably knew he would cherish this day for the rest of his life, right now he just wanted it over and done with.

He thought back to the practicing days. Everything had seemed so much more relaxed in an empty church, where just a priest had been standing. A small chuckle escaped his lips when he thought back to teaching Wallace how to be a good ring carrier. Wallace had been absolutely bored, and had been distraught by everything and anything. He had been randomly yelling out how he wanted to play, and asking why they were just here. He had been trying to tackle Wally to get him to play with him, and in general he had had the attention spam one could only expect of a four-year-old.

Wally could imagine it already; how people would start going aw when they saw the small boy bounce down the floor with the rings. Okay, so maybe they should have found another boy, and older boy. They had been thinking about Joey, but when they had talked about that Wallace had overheard their conversation and just yelled out me!

At first Kuki and himself had chuckled at the young boy, but when they saw how sad he became, and how serious he then later seemed, they had decided to give him a chance. Every time Wallace had gotten overly bored, Wally would tell him that if he didn't try a little harder, they might have to pick Joey after all. That was probably the only reason Wallace had stuck around and become so well mannered in the end.

His mind was brought back to his proposal in February. Cheesy as it had been, he had done it on valentine's day, and he could still remember how both his and Kuki's parents had congratulated them with warm smiles. He thought back to all of the dancing practice, and how many times he had almost tripped over his own feet when practicing the bridal waltz, which Kuki had found incredibly amusing.

The present day returned When Wally caught a sight of Wallace, who carefully came walking along with the rings, his tongue planted at the right corner of his upper lip, while his eyes focused intensely on the rings to make sure they wouldn't fall to the floor. His hair had been fixed to lay more flatly onto his head, and he was wearing a black tuxedo with a red butterfly.

Wally had been right about people awing at the small boy, and almost all of Kuki's female cousins were giggling loudly because of the boy's cuteness. It seemed they really had to restrain themselves from running up to the small boy so they could pinch his cheeks.

"Hi Wally!" Wallace yelled out with a smile when he was finally at the podium, earning him a few laughters from the rows. Wally let out a little chuckle before he shot the boy an affectionate smile while putting his index finger to his lips to tell Wallace to be quiet.

Wallace just gave him a goofy grin, but he remained where he was, and then the piano started playing the here comes the bride tune, just as obnoxiously loud as when Wally had been sitting in the rows more than four years ago. Except this time, he was the groom, and this time his heart started pounding hard against his ribs, while his throat tied itself into a knot, and he was convinced he'd soon fall to his knees because of his trembling legs.

Even though the dress was not the same, and even though she did not have nearly as many diamonds gracing her, Kuki looked thrice as beautiful as she had at her last wedding. It made Wally sweat beneath his skin, and he found he had to swallow hard to make his throat stop cutting of his air, and his eyes kept flickering between her eyes, her lips, and her collarbone. She stood next to him, her eyes always turned towards him, just as his was turned towards hers. In front of them the priest started his speech.

"Dearly beloved." His voice echoed through the church. "We are gathered here in the sight of God, and in the face of this company, to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony." Having heard this more than a hundred times already—or so it seemed—Wally zoned out and just kept locking eyes with Kuki while smiling at her.

Some of her family from Japan had scolded her a bit about getting wed again, and how wrong it was. They had been lecturing her about, how maybe she should just have chosen the right man to begin with, instead of marrying someone she would later divorce—as if she had planned it. And what a shameful sight it must be at the church, for her son to be the ring bearer; yet they had been awing at Wallace the moment he had walked up the isle.

Wally remembered how Kuki had been a bit discouraged to do this because of the shame her family put upon her, as if she was some filthy slut who would marry just to divorce. Back then Wally had felt himself burn up with rage at the harsh words her family had tossed at her, but he had calmed himself enough to comfort her and let her know, that if they didn't like the idea they could just stay away.

Having them here was a thing, that at first had made him feel annoyed, and just made him want to punch them, but he had decided against it in the end. They had come to support her regardless of the 'shame', and they did seem to look at the two of them with their eyes full of affection. His attention was snapped back to the church when he just vaguely caught the words _so long as ye both shall live?_ from the priest's mouth.

"I will." He sighed, his smile never leaving him, his mind not paying attention until he heard Kuki answer _I will_ as well.

* * *

July 15th (30 . 4)

A flutter of her lashes, and the touch of her breath to his skin was all it took to make his entire body tremble underneath him, before returning the pleasure the best he could. So what if someone had had her before him, but no one had had him before her? It didn't matter, and it was pointless dwelling on thoughts that belonged in the past. After all, they could as well have met when they were twenty two rather than fourteen, and then maybe both of them might have had someone in their lives. It was a ridiculous reason to get upset about pointless things such as this one. Live in the now, that's what he had told Kuki a number of times when she had felt bad about him not being her first, just because she had been his first—besides, if it hadn't been for the fact he hadn't been her first, Wallace wouldn't even be here.

"I love you." Kuki whispered in his ear with a giggle, nibbing his ear lobe softly before kissing his cheekbones.

He let out a sigh of pleasure and let out a groggy reply, which should have sounded like _I love you too_, but it ended up just sounding as gargling noises mixed with soft moaning. He dug his fingernails gently into her soft shoulders before working his way at her collar bone and the side of her neck. Kissing every centimeter while inhaling her sweet scent and being numbed by her playful giggles. She really knew how to work around him, and which spots would trigger a reaction—but then again; so did he.

Carefully, with his arms wrapped around her body, he lay her down gently and started tugging at the straps of her night dress. Softly to give her a chance to stop him—if she was just looking to tease—yet unable to hide the lust creeping into his mind. She counter attacked perfectly, licking his lips softly, challenging him to let her in; and together their tongues performed a dance while their hands gently slid clothes off of sweating bodies.

He traced his hands along her sides while she gently scratched at the crease of his neck—just beneath the hairline—simultaneously playing with his hair, and he was just about to tug off the last piece of her clothing, leaving her bare beneath him, when the phone rang and they had to leave each others lips.

Confusion settled in Wally's eyes for a moment, while Kuki let out a little sigh. Partly playful, partly disappointed. Slowly he got up, shooting her an apologetic look, but he knew if he ignored it for long enough, she would get up from beneath him; _what if it was something important?_—as she so wisely would point out.

"Beetles' resident, this is Wally speaking." He croaked into the phone.

"_Hello Mr. Beetles._" Came an unfamiliar female voice from the other end. "_I was told I could reach a woman by the name Kuki on this number, is that correct?_"

"Yeah, of course, one moment." He said confused, before putting the phone to his chest and looking to Kuki with an expression that almost seemed to say _were you expecting someone to call?_

Kuki got up from the bed, giving a quick peck to Wally's lips, before putting the phone to her ear with her heart hammering in her throat.

"Hello?" She asked, holding her breath while waiting for a reply.

"_Is this Kuki?_" Asked a female voice she had never heard before.

"Yes."

"_Hello. My name is Roxane Cote, I call from the Toledo Police Department where we just got a call to pick up a boy crying for his father. We tried calling his father, but no one picked up, so we had to try for you. Just to confirm, can you tell me your son's name?_"

"Wallace Gilliam. Why, what's happening?" Kuki replied, panic raising in her voice and tears pricking behind her eyes. Wally noticed the change of her behaviour and got up to put a hand on her shoulder, while doing his best to listen in on the conversation to find out what in the world Kuki was freaking out about.

"_It would be very helpful if you could come down as fast as possible, maybe answer a couple of questions._"

"Yes, yes of course." Kuki replied, her voice groggy and breaking. "We'll be able to be there in about two hours or so." Without even saying goodbye, or letting her hear Wallace's voice, the police officer hung up and Kuki stood alone to the beeping sound of the dead phone.

"What's wrong?" Wally asked, a look of worry and compassion upon his face. Their heated moment five minutes ago, forgotten the moment he had heard the tone of Kuki's voice.

"That bastard." She scolded, finally breaking down in tears while shaking. Wally had to hold her to keep her standing—or so it felt like anyways. "He abandoned Wallace. He just left him wandering the streets all alone."

* * *

The drive to the Toledo Police Department was probably one of the longest drives Kuki could ever remember having taken; maybe because she she was going to see her son who had just been left on the streets on his own. Not only that, but evidently they were going to ask her questions she most likely wouldn't be able to answer—such as where Marcus might have gone.

If she couldn't answer to the questions, would she then to be accused for neglect? Would they think she didn't care? Would they blame her for Marcus' wrongdoings? What if the child service was going to get involved and take Wallace away, just because Kuki had decided to trust that Marcus would be a good father, and take good care of Wallace while he was there?

She was scared they were going to ask her why she didn't call to check up on her son's every move, and then when she answered she always called to say good night, would they then call her irresponsible and unfit for the role of parent? What would Wally think of her if they took away Wallace? She didn't want that to happen, she loved her son, Wally loved her son, and until about five minutes ago she had really though that Marcus loved _their_ son.

* * *

"Wallace." Kuki sighed in relief, letting out tears while falling to her knees to embrace her son when they saw him at the station. "Thank goodness nothing ever happened to you, you must have been so scared." She stroke his cheek and hair and kissed his cheek and forehead tenderly, before hugging him into her again.

"Mommy, mommy!" Wallace cheered, pushing himself a bit away from her. Though his eyes had the evident sign of tears having lived there, his smile went from ear to ear. "I drawed you a drawing mommy."

"Really?" Kuki smiled. "Can I see it?"

"Aha." Wallace scurried to a table, with both Kuki and Wally observing him with smiles, then he came back with a paper in hand. "Look mommy! I drawed us in the sun, see? That's you mommy, and that's Wally, and that's me." He pointed to three almost identical stick figures on the paper, which had been smothered in a million different colours.

"Wow, this is so pretty Wallace, I'll make sure to take really good care of it." She smiled, kissing his forehead softly. "But would it be okay if Wally takes care of this drawing while mommy goes with the nice police lady?"

"Hmm… Okay!" Wallace ran into a room where a few toys had been put out for him, and the table he had used to draw on was still filled with crayons.

Kuki gave the drawing to Wally, who observed it with a snicker before he watched her go with the officer who had called them, and he helped himself into the room where Wallace had started playing around with toy cars.

"So." Wally said, sitting down next to Wallace, holding carefully onto the drawing so as not to curl it. "You made this yourself?"

"Mmm, I drawed it myself."

"Wallace?" Wallace snapped his head up to look at Wally. "Drew. You drew it yourself."

"No." Wallace pouted. "Drew didn't not drawed it, I did!" For a moment Wally got a bit confused about what Wallace meant, but then he started to chuckle lightly when he remembered about Wallace's friend in daycare whose name happened to be Drew.

"Of course. How silly of me." Wally chuckled. He observed Wallace for a while before continuing. "So. How'd you end up here?"

"A lady founded me." Wallace pouted, sitting himself closer to Wally while rolling a toy car back and forth—as if it was driving and reversing.

"Oh yeah. What happened then?" Wally asked, picking up a little car of his own which he started twirling in his fingers.

"She called the police and they comed for me in a police car."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. And they made the car go wee-oo, wee-oo, wee-oo!" Wallace laughed in excitement.

"Oh wow, you got to try the sirens huh? How lucky." Wally cheered in a soft voice, his eyes never leaving Wallace.

"Aha; and the lady let me try on her hat. It was too much big."

Wally shook his head in amusement by the mental image of a police hat falling into Wallace's eyes because it was too big. It became impossible for him to hide a snicker, yet he found a pit of something that felt like murderous hatred when he remembered why Wallace was here in the first place. He put his hand atop Wallace's head and ruffled his hair with a soft laughter, and he was just about to say _I'd never leave you_ when he decided against it because it would probably just upset the boy.

"I love you, you know." Wally said instead, shooting Wallace a smile, which was quickly returned before Wallace replaced it with a grin.

"Me too."

* * *

**I really wanted to write about Wally lifting up Wallace and dancing around with him at the wedding reception, but as you can see that never happened—unfortunately.**

**I know it's not called "founded" or "comed" or "drawed" for that matter, but Wallace is four. He's allowed to be grammatically incorrect.**

**Also: about half of this was written in the hospital, while waiting for my younger brother to come back from X-ray. He'd just had a pacemaker implanted and got some pains after wards :/ (turned out he's the "lucky" 1/100 whose one lung falls together after operation, and they therefore had to suck air out of it to fix it. He's doing fine now though.)**

**Criticism and/or advices on improvement is/are highly appreciated and very welcome :)**

**~*~TippierCoffee~*~**


	6. Children

**Author: TippierCoffee**

**Disclaimer: I do not own—nor do I claim the rights to—**_**Codename: Kids Next Door**_** or any of its characters. All credit goes to rightful owner: Mr. Tom Warburton. I do, however, own Wallace Gilliam, Sakura Sanban Beetles and Sheila Sanban Beetles.**

**Enjoy :)**

**Ps. First age: Wally + Kuki. Second age: Wallace. Third age: Sakura + Sheila.**

* * *

Tater06: IT IS! Thank you so much :D

* * *

Children.

February 28th (31 (going 32) . 6)

Street lights flew by the car as it was carefully driven along the roads with precision by Kuki Sanban Beetles. She had wanted to ride shot gun originally, mostly because she was a bit tired, but her son had insisted on talking in never ending streams to her husband. In turn, she had therefore let Wally ride shotgun so he could turn his head—and sit a bit awkwardly—and talk to her son, who had been kicking his feet to the bottom of the seat he was sitting on, on the entire ride while blabbering on and on about how much fun he'd had today; high on sugar and over tired.

It had been a small birthday this year for the family. One, because Wallace's birthday only was a little more than a month after Christmas eve, and two because he had had a birthday party with a bunch of kids from kindergarten the day before.

They had first been sitting with Wally's and Kuki's parents for a bit, who of course had spoiled the boy silly, then they had loaded his present into the back of the car, and together the three of them had gone to the bowling alley. First bowling, then wasting too many cents on silly arcade machines, but Wallace had liked it and had had a great time, so it was all okay in the end.

Back when Wallace had been left alone to wander the streets by Marcus, Kuki had been relieved they had never blamed her for the whole ordeal and they hadn't questioned her parenting either. They had put in an investigation to find Marcus though, and they found him somewhere in Dayton Ohio, messing around with some woman who he was going to move in with apparently. He had denied even having a son in front of her though, and although the court had demanded he no further should have contact to the child he didn't want to take care of, they had still been stern about him paying extra child welfare to Kuki—not that he had actually bothered to do it. He had disappeared to someplace else, and though Kuki knew she should be insistent on finding him, she honestly didn't want to waste her energy on some parody of a man who didn't give a care anyways; especially seeing as they managed fine on their own, Wally and herself.

They reached their house and exited the vehicle, Kuki was just about to lift Wallace up—whose energy was starting to burn out—but he managed to let out a tired whine in the form of Wally's name. Kuki exchanged a look with Wally, her eyes full of amusement and a tint of wonder, as if asking _since when did he become so found of you?_ Wally gave her a little shrug with a smile of his own, before bending down and releasing Wallace's safety belt, then he lifted up the boy who rested his head on his shoulder.

They entered the little hall, Kuki taking off Wallace's coat and shoes while Wally held him steady. Wallace groaned a little in protest because he had exhausted himself so much, and he started protesting even more when Wally gave him to Kuki to take off his own coat and shoes. With a warm laughter and a glimmer in her eyes Kuki handed Wallace back to Wally, before pecking Wallace on his forehead and saying goodnight. Her response was more groaning and whining, and a bit of complaining.

"Guess I'll join you later." Wally mumbled, giving her a quick peck on the lips.

"Of course." Kuki giggled. "But for now, I guess I'll let you steal my son." Wally chuckled at her comment and gave her an apologetic shrug of his shoulders, which she responded to by shaking her head with the smile still planted on her lips.

He carried Wallace to the top of the stairs while Kuki started emptying out the car below him. He carefully carried Wallace into his room and lay him gently onto his bed. He tugged the duvet under the boy's chin and sat down at the edge of the bed stroking his hair carefully.

"Did you have fun today?" Wally asked softly, watching Wallace's eyes get heavier and heavier.

"Mmm." Wallace replied, barely audible under his voice coated with tiredness. "I liked the arcade the best." He yawned.

"Oh yeah? Well you _were_ winning pretty good, remember?"

"Mmm."

"Well." Wally sighed, hitting his lap then sending his knitted index finger to Wallace's cheek making a popping noise. "You should try and get some sleep champ. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Mmm."

Wally barely got to get up to leave before he felt Wallace tugging gently at his jumper with tired fingers. He stopped in his tracks and sat down again, focusing on the boy whose eyes were now dotting from side to side while he chew nervously on his bottom lip. It seemed as though Wallace wanted to tell Wally something, but he was unsure of how to say it, or if he should even say it. He seemed nervous and on the verge of tears, and every time his eyes met Wally's he quickly looked to his duvet again.

"Is something wrong Wallace?" Wallace chewed his lip a little harder and kept looking to Wally then his duvet and back to Wally. Undetermined and unsure. "Wallace?" Wally tried again.

Wallace let out a little sound that was something between a groan and a whimper and a tear started showing at the corner of his eye. He looked to Wally once again, his eyes now completely flooding with tears just pressing to stroll down his cheeks—then he took a deep breath and let out his question.

"Can I… Can I call you dad?" He mumbled quietly, his tears finally strolling down his cheeks as though he was scared he'd just embarrassed himself, or broken something priceless. Wally's heart picked up in pace and something inside him exploded in a good way, flooding his guts, giving him the weirdest sensation that it was flowing, and he found he had to stop himself from chuckling out loud in affection and pick up the boy to plant a kiss solidly on his cheek—he didn't want to move too fast or make wallace think he thought it had been a stupid question.

"Of course you can little man." Wally replied warmly while stroking Wallace's cheek. "You can call me whatever you want."

"I wanna call you dad." He mumbled, seemingly a little embarrassed, yet relieved.

"All right." Wally smiled. "I'll be your dad then, don't sweat it champ."

Wally dried the tears away from Wallace's eyes with his thumbs and gave a kiss to his index and middle finger before touching them to Wallace's forehead. Wallace sniffed subtly while smiling up at Wally and then he laughed a little, relieved that he had been accepted as his son. Wally chuckled along with the boy for a while, then he got up from the bed, shutting off the lights and getting ready to leave—reminding himself to leave the door slightly ajar because Wallace didn't like the dark.

"Good night dad." Wallace called softly behind him, making everything inside Wally explode all over again. He turned his head and looked to Wallace, affection in his eyes and a constant smile on his lips.

"Good night son." He whispered, stepping out into the hall and going down to help Kuki unload the car.

* * *

October 9th (32 . 6 . 0)

Wally had never imagined Kuki could scream this loudly for this long. Her voice sounded like it was being shredded from the inside by a grater, and it made Wally's ears ring louder and louder still. In the start it had seemed like a good idea, and the encouragement had come from Wallace's wish list before Christmas where he had written he wanted a brother or a sister, so why not? Not that any of them ever regretted it, but it had been quite the surprise when they had found out they were expecting twin girls.

The look on Wallace's face when he had been told he would get two sister's had been quite adorable however; and his horror when he learned they were inside Kuki's belly—and therefore suddenly thought she had swallowed them or something—had been pure comedy. But as the day of the twins birth was coming closer, both Wallace and his parents had become more excited, and Wallace had especially found it amusing to tap Kuki's belly in hopes of getting kicks in response.

The thing that made this seem eve worse than last time Wally had held her hand at childbirth was that one had already come out and that moment had been bliss and he had felt something explode inside him, exactly the same way as when Wallace called him dad for the first time, but now the screams and squeezing of his hand, and killing of his ears, was starting all over again, and it was almost unbearable—not to mention how Kuki must feel!

His mind momentarily went back to that night on Wallace's sixth birthday, and how Kuki had looked at his goofy grin with an amused expression, then she had squealed out in joy and surprise when he had picked her up from the floor and spun her around a bit, before planting his lips solidly on hers.

"What's going on?" She had giggled, while he had spun her around feeling giddy and kind of dumb. Then he had laughed softly and uncontrolled, before hugging her closely into him, and with a whisper he had announced what had just happened to him.

"Wallace just called me dad." He'd giggled, uncontrollably before suddenly crying, not really understanding why.

Wally never thought he would ever experience a feeling quite like that ever again, but when the last girl was finally out, and Kuki's head rest had been put up, and her legs down, he sat on the edge of the bed next to her, and was presented to the twin girls. He started laughing with no sound, affection coating his eyes, and then he looked to Kuki unable to speak. She looked awful, he had to admit that, but even so, yet when he saw her tired smile and the glimmer in her eyes, something made him think that she still looked gorgeous—just like the two lumps of minced meat that were supposed to be human.

"Do you understand it now?" Kuki asked softly, giving him a tired smile, looking from one girl to the other.

"Yeah." Wally whispered breathlessly. "Cruddy emotions huh?"

Kuki let out a little giggle, before nodding to one of the nurses as a sign to let hers and Wally's family in, which she responded to with a smile, and Kuki for a moment thought it was a bit fun that one of her coworkers she knew very well had been there to help her deliver. Their families walked in about two minutes later, Wallace holding onto Kani's hand and looking to his parents with big curious eyes.

"Hey there." Wally smiled, catching Wallace's eyes. "Wanna come up here and say hello?"

Wallace shuffled his feet a little, then looked to Kani as if seeking permission—which he got—and then he nodded his head softly; eyes never leaving the two babies. Kani lifted Wallace up and placed him close to Wally. He crawled over and looked from the baby in Wally's arms, to the baby in Kuki's arms.

"They look the same." He exclaimed softly, confusion in his voice.

"That's because they're twins." Wally replied with a smile. Wallace crawled closer and touched his finger's to the hand of the youngest baby in Kuki's arms.

"They're so small." He concluded.

"You were too once." Kuki giggled.

"Nuh-uh." Wallace stated, convinced that he had never been smaller than when he was four.

Kuki softly giggled at him, and observed as he closely studied the twins; first Sakura—the youngest—then Sheila. Wally saw too how Wallace kept changing his focus from one girl to another, and he kept carefully touching a finger to either their hand or their cheek, as though he was scared to break them by his touch.

"Do you want to try and hold her?" Wally asked, gesturing to Sheila in his arms.

"Can I?" Wallace looked doubtfully from Wally's encouraging eyes, to Kuki's unsure—but approving—smile.

"You have to be careful though." Kuki whispered softly. "They're very small and can therefore easily get hurt."

"Don't worry junior." Wally chuckled when he saw Wallace's horrified expression. "I'll be right here helping you." With one last uncertain look Wallace stretched out his arms and readied himself to try and hold one of his new sisters.

"You have to hold one hand under her head like this." Wally explained, while softly guiding Wallace's hand. "Their heads are a little bigger than the rest of them as you can see, so it's a bit too heavy for them to hold it up by themselves yet." Wallace let out a laughter while he let wally guide Sheila safely into his arms.

She was small, warm, and a lot heavier than he had thought. Her eyes were still closed for now, and she looked like one of those dolls he and a female friend had been playing with not too long a go—only he had gotten teased with it a bit, but she hadn't. Wallace kept staring at her in wonder, thinking that the only thing that set her apart from the doll was the fact that she was breathing, and he could feel her breaths against his small chest.

She let out a little yawn and a sound Wallace had never really heard before, it almost sounded the same as when someone stuck their tongue out at him and made this weird sound while doing it; only it was a bit softer and more moist. Then she opened her eyes, seemingly too big in to fit in her head, and she looked at Wallace curiously yet tired. Her eyes were already the exact same colour as Wally's and for a moment Wallace felt something settle in his stomach, as if sucking it in to a momentary nothingness, then it turned to some wicked form of anger he couldn't really place, because he was actually a little happy to see her.

"She's really heavy." He then whined. Partly because it was the truth, and partly because this weird jealousy was unsettling to him. Wally rid her from his grasp and asked if he wanted to hold her sister, to which he shook his head and replied _maybe later_.

His grandparents and Wally's parents shuffled a little closer to get to say hello to his new sisters as well, and the jealousy that was frightening him so much grew just a bit in his chest—almost like a little monster he couldn't remember ever having given permission to stay there—when he started to feel like he was being forgotten a bit, and he might as well be starting to get invisible. But he liked his sisters nonetheless, right until the days at home where they would keep awake for many nights to come, because they apparently didn't know how to sleep for an entire night.

* * *

**Yup. Guess Wallace is just used to getting a lot of attention since he was the only child, and now he'll have to learn to share. On another note, I remade the Ever After website to a general website, and I put up a blog post in there (not that I'm amazingly good at that).**

**Ever After will be re-uploaded in there at a point and I'm thinking of making a sequel to this which will also go in there if it is ever made. Both of them will be uploaded in there because they focus more on the offspring/original characters, than the KND characters. I kind of don't want to get people's hopes up for a 3/4 fic, just to be disappointed when they are rarely mentioned. If you're interested in seeing these things though, I put the link near the top of my profile.**

**Anyhow; criticism and/or advices on improvement is/are highly appreciated and as always welcome :)**

**~*~TippierCoffee~*~**


	7. Hurt and comfort

**Author: TippierCoffee**

**Disclaimer: I do not own—nor do I claim the rights to—**_**Codename: Kids Next Door**_** or any of its characters. All credit goes to rightful owner: Mr. Tom Warburton. I do, however, own Wallace Gilliam, Sakura Sanban Beetles and Sheila Sanban Beetles.**

**Enjoy :)**

**Ps. First age: Wally + Kuki. Second age: Wallace. Third age: Sakura + Sheila.**

* * *

Hurt and comfort.

September 1st (38 . 12 . 6)

Anger and hatred had never scared him this much, but it was bubbling up inside of him—as if two small beings were playing ping-pong with a meteor in his guts. Relentlessly shoving the fiery ball back and forth when it got too heavy to bat, making sure to always add air so the fire would only grow and never die. It made his head burn and spin, and he felt like letting out a roar with a voice that yet had to go through the random ups and downs of puberty and therefore still would sound a lot more boyish compared to the other boy's, whose voice had already deepened in almost a month—maybe that was what made him think he was better than anybody else.

Wallace stood on the paved ground just before the basketball field, the other boy—whose name was Frank—glaring at him with a superior smile, while four of Frank's friends were standing behind him, smiling like mad men whose only purpose was to repeat the words _reject_ over and over again. It did not exactly help subdue the words Frank had just spat at him, words formed by a fact he should not even know about, unless Wallace's so-called best friend had told him and everyone else in their class; but why would she do that? He had trusted her, only because she was his best friend, only because he trusted she wouldn't pass it on, and now words that suggested she _had_ told were echoing in his head.

He could feel his body starting to tremble, while he opened and closed his fists with tears shoving and burning at his eyes. He would _not_ cry in front of this circus of people, he would not.

"Aw, is wittle Wallace getting sad?" Frank mocked, his four baboon friends grunting out laughters. "Why don't you go to daddy for comfort? Oh my bad, I forgot. You can't!" He joined the laughter of his four friends and Wallace snapped.

Without even thinking about what he was doing, and without even caring if he had finally given into his tears, he tackled Frank and send him to the ground, making sure to keep his knee solidly planted on his stomach while he started pounding his face with all of his might. Wallace wanted to cuss at him, he wanted to yell at him, he wanted to remove the smiles and the words by spitting Frank in the face; but he was hyperventilating and shaking, and the only thing his head could manage was this. Looking at Frank with nothing but murder in his eyes, and breaking his nose with a punch of his right fist—sending blood to Frank's face and his own knuckles.

One of Frank's monkey friends pulled Wallace up and tossed him to the ground, and suddenly Wallace was being pinned by one and punched by two. His rage was never ending, just as his tears weren't, and when he heard Frank shuffle it made him look up. He caught the sight of a girl with dark blonde hair, and suddenly everything inside him lit on fire all over again, while he could feel his throat being blocked by something that felt like porridge.

He had trusted her, and she had betrayed him.

His anger and hurt grew, until he let out a pathetic awkward yell, that sounded something between him crying out loud and attempting to roar, but he didn't care. He tossed the guy pinning him down off of him and started kicking and punching and tearing at hair and blouses, not entirely sure if he was winning or losing.

He never learned the result of the fight either, because suddenly the principal came out, closely followed by at least ten teachers who risked their own bodies to break up the fight, and when the five boys were finally apart, the principal roared for everyone to go back inside. Before he knew of it, Wallace was being escorted to the principal's office by two teachers he didn't even know, for the first time in his life; and he knew his parents would _not_ be pleased when they were told about this.

* * *

The air was coated with anger and an awkward heavy atmosphere. His parents hadn't said anything to him yet, they had just shook their heads at his battered face once he came home, then told him to do his homework. He knew when the topic would fall down on him, and when they would start asking what in the world he had been thinking. He had seen it time and time again when Sheila had gotten into pointless fights or bullied someone; the lecture would always be given at the dinner table.

Wallace had often wondered why their parents would spend dinner scolding them—or rather her—or bringing up topics about fighting and such, but he figured it was because they weren't allowed to leave the dinner table, and also to make sure all three of them understood the message one of them were given. Fighting was wrong, unless it was in self defense, and one should never throw the first punch.

Wallace had already started becoming tired of the lecture, which Sheila had earned herself more times than he would bother recounting in his head. It also hadn't made things any better or less tense when she had come running out in triumph—or so it seemed anyways—once he entered the house, then started running around him in circles with a grin on her face, while yelling at the top of her lungs.

"Wallace is in trouble! Wallace is in trouble! Ha, ha!" Wallace had guessed she was just satisfied it for once wasn't her getting the heat, it still had made him want to tackle her to the floor, just for the sake of seeing her face when she found out he actually—apparently—knew how to fend for himself and put up an okay fight.

"Are you okay Wallace?" Sakura had asked, looking to him with big worried eyes. Because of his frustration he kind of felt like yelling at her _does it look like I'm okay?_ but he wouldn't vent it out on her. Out of the two of them, Sakura was, after all, the good twin, where as Sheila was nothing short of a demon.

"I'm fine." He had just shrugged, wanting to forget the whole thing and just be left alone.

Though as he was sitting here now, poking a piece of broccoli with his fork, his black eye pumping a little rhythm because of the pain, he knew there was no chance this would be all forgotten. He wouldn't be treated any different from Sheila, or Sakura for that matter if she ever ended up shedding her good behaviour and stepping in it big time. He let out a sigh, while he felt the air suffocate him, and suddenly he went from wishing this would be left be, to wishing they would just scold him about it already. He got his wish.

"Your teachers called." Wally stated shortly, not looking him in the eyes.

"So?" Wallace said, trying to act like it was nothing.

"Told us you started a fight in the school yard with five guys. Care to explain it?"

"Why?" Wallace could feel his guts starting to boil, as though his stomach acid was being prepared to be served as soup for some unknown bacteria, and his eyes started burning and aching while he felt his jaw tense as his throat started drowning in that nonexistent porridge that had almost choked him earlier.

"Care to explain to me what happened?" Wally asked impatiently, finally looking to Wallace who met his eyes briefly, then looked down with the anger and hurt still rising inside him.

"Why do you care?" He snorted.

"Because I'm your dad." Wally said, a bit of confusion to his stern voice.

Something within Wallace shattered when he said that. Something he didn't have control over, and it started a domino effect within him, blowing up TNT which in turn made him feel like _he_ exploded, and before he could even control what was happening, tears pressed out of his eyes and he hammered the palm of his hands onto the table, knocking his chair to the floor as he stood up, a monster's roar replacing his voice.

"No that's the thing Wally!" He screamed. "You aren't, you never were. So stop playing pretend!"

His nostrils were flaring and his eyes were shooting lighting and fire balls at Wally, who looked back to him, his green eyes flickering between stern, confused, and hurt. Wallace found his exploding anger subduing, making room for something that made his knees tremble with weakness and threatened to send him to the floor in defeat. He gave into it and fell to the floor, letting his tears spill onto the carpet while his entire body trembled with such intensity he was sure it would fall apart any time.

"You're not my dad." Wallace croaked, sinking further onto the floor so he was practically laying on the it, almost in the same position as a Muslim in prayer; unable to even _try_ to stand up again.

"What does he mean dad?" Sakura asked from the table, and for a moment Wally looked from the twins to the broken boy on the floor.

"Would you explain that to them?" Wally mumbled, low enough for only Kuki to hear. "I think I should have a word with Wallace."

"Sure." Kuki whispered back, her eyebrows furrowed in worry and her voice soft. She had expected Wally to be a lot more hurt about this, but he took everything surprisingly well—or maybe he just didn't want to break down as well, as that would not do anything good for this situation what's so ever.

Wally carefully got up and walked around to Wallace's side lifting his chair back up, then he knelt next to the boy and lay a hand on his shoulder. First Wallace shook it off with a quick motion of his shoulder, while mumbling something incomprehensible. Wally gave it a second try while trying to soothe the boy, and this time he let him keep his hand there and help him up from the floor. He let Wally guide his trembling body up the stairs and into his room where he sat on his bed, felling nothing but sadness in his head and numbness in the rest of his body.

"Hey." Wally spoke softy, sitting on Wallace's bed with some distance between them to give the boy at least a little room. "What's going on champ."

"Stop calling me champ." Wallace sobbed, anger still slightly visible in his voice. "I'm not your champ, I'm not your anything. I'm just some boy from a prior marriage." He rested his elbows on his lap and let his head fall into his hands, his tears never faltering.

"Okay, my bad Wallace." Wally said remaining the calm tone, and trying not to show his hurt. He needed to help Wallace first, then he could lick his own wounds later. "I'd still like to know. What's going on, what happened?"

Silence fell over the two for a moment while Wallace kept trembling in his tears and feeling weaker than he could ever remember having felt before. Why had he trusted that stupid Sarah with this thing in the first place? If he had just kept his mouth shut this would never have happened, and he'd be sitting and eating while laughing and calling Wally dad, and trashing biology a bit.

"It's just because." Wallace finally spoke up, his voice breaking and groggy. "We ha-ad bi-o-lo-gy toda-ay and then..." He started hyperventilating under his cries, and he felt Wally carefully put a hand on his shoulder, giving him room to pull away. He didn't want to though.

"Hey, listen to me." Wally said, his voice softer than Wallace could ever remember having heard it before. "Try to calm down. Take a deep breath."

Wallace did as told, sniffing in through his nose, and he found himself wondering for a moment if his outburst had deeply hurt Wally and maybe that was why he as talking so softly right now.

"Start from the top." Wally continued, still keeping the softness in his voice while managing to be demanding at the same time. "What happened today?"

Wallace took a deep breath and tried to collect his thoughts, tried to push the hurt and anger aside and forget that he had been betrayed by Sarah; the person he trusted the most in the world.

"We had biology today." He started, trying his best to control his breath and not get angered all over again, but his body kept trembling and sometimes it seemed to deny him air still. "And we had a bit about genetics. Nothing complicated, just those schedules where you have to see which colour something will be; you know, all that dominance talk. Anyways, we were told about doing blood tests next week, to see which blood type we are and such, and how we have to make a schedule of our family to add up our genes.

"I don't know if you remember Sarah?" Wally gave a short nod. "Well, I told her about Marcus and such, because you know; she's my best friend, so why wouldn't I? Do you know what she did?" Wallace felt the anger rise withing him again, and his tears started falling anew while he knitted his fists hard. "She went and told _everyone_. Well maybe not everyone, but she told someone, who told it to someone else. I trusted her, and she just went and stabbed me in the back!

"And then this stupid prick called Frank started shoving me around in recess and teasing me. He started yelling out loud to the playground about how I was a reject, and how my own dad didn't even want me, probably because I was a worthless piece of crap. I just play pretend with this blonde guy, and he's not even my dad, and I just got so mad and hurt which he saw. So he started yelling about how should go cry to my dad, but I can't do that because I don't have one!" Wallace broke down all over again, bitter tears painting his face.

"So you punched him?" Wally asked, his voice trembling with something that sounded like anger, but he desperately tried to camouflages it so it sounded like he was scolding Wallace.

"Yeah I punched him!"

"What about his friends, how do they fit into the picture?" Wally asked, focusing on Wallace who was focusing on the floor with a grim expression.

"They pulled me off of him and started playing unfair, one held me, two punched me, and suddenly we just ended up tossing punches at each other and kicking each other I guess."

Wallace finally looked to Wally, just in time to see him shaking his head before they locked eyes. For a moment Wallace sat there, feeling a bit ashamed by his behaviour, but something about the way Wally looked at him made him feel like he was telling him—in his own way—that he understood why this had happened.

"I'm sorry." Wallace finally croaked, shame replacing all prior feelings, new tears pricking at his eyes. "I didn't mean what I said at the table."

"I know." Wally responded, smiling at the boy with his hand still on his shoulder. Then his tone changed into that of a serious one. "But I need you to understand this. You cannot let people like Frank get on your nerves. He doesn't know what he's talking about.

"Six years a go you called me dad for the first time, and I accepted you then, just as I still accept you now. You can call me what you want, I'll be whatever you want. If you want me to be your dad, I'm your dad, and I love you just as much as I love Sakura and Sheila, and I think of you in the same way. I accepted you, just like you accepted me, and I will keep being here for you.

"If you want me to just be Wally, I guess I'll have to suck it up and accept it, but if you want me to still be your dad, then I will still be your dad." Wallace felt a prickle of guilt and a tug of shame sneak in on him, making him feel stupid about ever letting someone as dumb as Frank—who lived alone with his alcoholic mother or something—get to him.

"Let me tell you something." Wally continued, scooting a bit closer to Wallace. "There is a difference between being a father and being a dad. Anyone can be a father, you just have to… Mix DNA with a woman; you'll learn more about that later. Being a dad is a bit different."

"How?"

"Well… A dad is someone you have a connection to, in here." He touched a knitted fist to Wallace's heart. "It's someone you can go to with your problems, just like you can with your mom.

"Let me try and give you an example. If Marcus was here right now, and you could choose between going to him or me for advice; who would you go to?"

"You." Wallace said, not even considering Marcus an option.

"Why?" Wally asked, trying to get his point across.

"Because you've always been here for me, and you've always listened to me, and you've always cherished and helped me. You've watched me laugh and you've watched me cry, and you've always been ready to jump to my side, no questions asked."

"And _that_, that is what gives us a bond. _That_ is what makes me your dad. It doesn't matter if we share genetics or not, and I'm not saying you can't be both a father and a dad; I am that to your sisters. I am just saying, some kids, for one or the other reason doesn't have contact to one of their parents, and maybe their mom or dad remarried and they now have a step mom, or a step dad.

"For some of these kids, this step parent will become someone they consider their actual parent, so they call them mom or dad, rather than their name."

"Like you and me." Wallace finished, his voice forming half a question.

"Just like you and I." Wally confirmed.

For about the tenth time that day something within Wallace shattered, and he found he was tossing himself into Wally's arms and giving him a bone-crunching hug while weeping helplessly into his blouse.

"I'm sorry dad." He sobbed, muffled and barely audible.

"It's okay Wallace." Wally hushed him, ruffling his hair softly. "Don't sweat it junior."

Wallace gave out a little chuckle and broke the hug to dry his eyes, while laughter took over his body. He wasn't entirely sure if it was hysterical, relieved, upset or what it was, but it was there; and it got mixed with the laugh of his dad.

"But you know." Wally said, catching his attention. "Officially I can't approve of you starting a fight. Unofficially; I hope you knocked his teeth out." Wally gave a wink, which in turn made Wallace chuckle.

"Nah. I think I broke his nose though." Wally ruffled his hair with a light snicker and together the two of them got up to go downstairs again.

"Let's not tell Sheila about this though, she's just going to be giving me her typical complaint about how I'm always on your side." Wallace laughed out loud, feeling happy he had someone like Wally he could call his dad.

"I hope they won't judge me, now they know." Wallace suddenly said, feeling a bit nervous about the aspects of having to face the twins.

"I'm sure they won't." Wally shrugged. "We would have told them one day anyway, we were just hoping to wait till they were around ten-years-old so it would be a bit easier for them to understand."

"You were going to tell them?" Wallace asked, slightly disbelieved.

"Yeah of course, they deserve to know. We would have told you too if you had forgotten." It sounded fair, of course, it just still took him a bit by surprise.

* * *

When Wallace stepped into the dining room he was greeted by two pairs of curious emerald eyes and his mother's compassionate smile. Wally let go of his shoulder, which he had held onto softly on their way down, and went over to have a seat next to Kuki. Wallace shuffled nervously towards his own seat, but before he even got to reach it Sakura had jumped up from her own chair and held him in a hug.

"You are the bestest brother ever Wallace." She chirped with a smile, which at first took him by surprise, but then he returned her hug softly.

"Yeah, who cares about what's-his-face who married mum before dad?" Sheila grinned, mischief shimmering in her eyes. "If anyone is ever mean to you about it again, just call me and I'll help you beat the living crud out of them!" She punched her left fist to her right hand with a confirming _pow_.

"But I'm not gonna hug you." Se continued with a scoff. "Hugging is girly." She stuck out her tongue in disgust and earned herself a chuckle from Wallace.

"But, you are a girl Sheila." He grinned.

"But I'm not a girly girl, like Sakura is. I'm tough and strong!" She let out a little roar which earned her more giggles and laughter, while Sakura let go of Wallace with a soft smile, then she skipped to her chair.

* * *

**I hope this is not too long, I just really wanted to show some sibling love as well. Originally the thing that happens in next chapter was supposed to be a part of this chapter as well, then I saw how many words this chapter have, and decided to split it up—which means this is not the last chapter guys! (there will be approximately nine chapters judging from how it looks now) :D**

**Criticism and/or advices on improvement is/are highly appreciated :)**

**~*~TippierCoffee~*~**


	8. Revelations

**Author: TippierCoffee**

**Disclaimer: I do not own—nor do I claim the rights to—**_**Codename: Kids Next Door**_** or any of its characters. All credit goes to rightful owner: Mr. Tom Warburton. I do, however, own Wallace Gilliam, Sakura Sanban Beetles and Sheila Sanban Beetles.**

**Enjoy :)**

**Ps. First age: Wally + Kuki. Second age: Wallace. Third age: Sakura + Sheila.**

* * *

Revelations.

September 1st (42 . 16 . 9 (going 10))

Jet-black hair and aquamarine coloured, thin almond eyes, set in a pale oval face, with a soft heart shaped chin, distraught Wallace for about the hundredth time that day. It made his head buzz with a million voices and his heart pound hard in his chest, and for a moment he was worried his biology partner J—who was still blabbering on and on about what material to use for the outer cell wall—might be able to hear it.

He liked high school, it had been better than he thought. He had been fearing it would be exactly like how it was in American chick-flicks; which Sarah had made him watch one too many of after he'd forgiven her. So he had been positively surprised by how easy going it could be, and he had made a few good friends in his class, one of them being J who kept distracting him and preoccupying his mind.

He had tried and tried to shake this feeling ever since it had started more than two weeks ago, but no matter how hard he tried, or what strategies he used, he just could not get this person out of his head. This wonderful, beautiful, talkative, breathtaking, life-loving, always-smiling, joking, sporty, person. It was like a disease eating away at his brain and Wallace had already been scolded more than once for spacing out; he must be looking so ridiculous.

"Can't we just use clay like we were told to?" Wallace asked, eying their drawing of the cell model they were going to make in biology.

Now, Wallace didn't exactly _hate_ biology, he found it rather interesting actually; he just already felt tired of how much time they would be using on genetics in the near future. He didn't exactly like being reminded of Marcus, and while a part of him felt like he should really seek out the man to get some kind of closure to this indifferent issue, he had a feeling Marcus would not exactly be happy to see him, and he most certainly would not talk to him either.

Whatever; that was what he had decided to think every time to remind himself that it didn't matter. He had Wally and that was good enough for him really.

"Well." J replied. "I thought it would be better if we somehow made the outer wall of our cell feel softer than the rest of it."

-_Soft as your lips_- Wallace's thoughts echoed in his head, and he felt like slapping himself—also not for the first time that day—for having these perverted thoughts that didn't belong.

"Just soften the clay. If you want it to feel softer or smoother than that, we an always coat it with some silk paper or something." Wallace shrugged, not really getting what the big deal was.

"What an excellent idea!" J smiled in excitement. "Everything inside will just be ordinary clay you know, we need to make this thing a bit more interesting. I bet you everybody else will just go with clay."

"Well. That was kind of what we were told to do."

"I know, but we were also told to be a bit creative about it. I know it's just a small model, but we _do_ get graded in it, which will go to our average. I'd really like my average to be high you know."

"Yeah of course, me too, no doubt."

"Silk paper it is then. And who knows? Making the outer wall of our cell different, and softer, might raise our grades."

"Sure." Wallace sighed, putting his chin in his hand, while his eyes once again started darting between J's lips and eyes—those breathtaking , gorgeous eyes, and soft-looking lips. He started scolding himself and worry settled inside of him, starting slowly but surely; as if it were a thief sneaking around in his guts, stealing things and getting more bold by the minute. Why could he not shake these feelings? It was frustrating and it made him want to lock himself away and just cry. Cry and hope for the feelings to disappear with his angered tears.

These feelings were just so… _Wrong_.

* * *

Sweat prickled down Wallace's forehead while he ran with all his might, adrenalin pumping in his veins, sending his blood rushing to his head. The fresh air expanded his lungs and made him feel new and refreshed, while his heart hammered effortlessly against his ribs, so loudly he could hear it in his ears.

"Pass!" A guy yelled to Wallace's left, and he gracefully kicked the black-and-white ball over before being tackled to the ground by a guy , who had probably been hoping to steal the ball before Wallace had passed it.

They both fell to the ground furiously and tumbled over each other. Wallace felt how the heel of the other guy's boot rammed into his thigh and a shock wave of pain shot up to his hip, then down to his knee. Laying there in awkward positions, poking each other and digging their shoes into each other—unintentionally of course—Wallace was almost in doubt of which arm belonged to him and which arm belonged to his tackler.

He imagined it must look hilarious from the outside, and he heard the coach blow his whistle while a couple of the guys came to help the two of them untangle. With shaking legs Wallace stood up and he heard his tackler stand up with half a snicker and half a moan of pain.

"Sorry Wallace." The guy chuckled. "Thought I could steal the ball for a moment."

"It's cool Jacob. But you've got to work on that reaction time of yours; the ball wasn't anywhere _near_ my feet when you came crashing into me."

"I know." Jacob sang, dusting of his shorts, then looking curiously at a scrape he had gotten on his left elbow—a mixture of blood and dirt. "Guessing that's the biggest reason for me to play second-string huh?"

Wallace laughed a little, quickly joined by the Jacob's laughter and the two of them let the coach guide them to the benches so they could have the worst of their wounds cleansed and covered with plasters, before running to the field again.

"If you pull that on the field, a judge might give you a yellow card for it Matthews." The coach warned, half of a smile on his lips.

"I know coach, I'll work on it." He took a swing of water while Wallace watched, feeling his own throat getting dry. He cursed himself again for not having filled up his bottle earlier and now it was too cruddy late.

The coach walked to the field again, letting the two volunteer 'nurse girls' patch up Wallace and Jacob. Not that the girls would ever mind a chance to patch up one of the football players, they were drooling just watching them dribble the ball between their feet. Jacob caught Wallace's staring eyes, focusing with thirst-lust at his sports bottle.

"Guessing you forgot your own bottle?" Jacob asked, half a snicker to his voice.

"Yeah, forgot to fill it up because I'm too dumb." Wallace snorted, then, in the corner of is eyes, he caught sight of Jacob offering his water bottle.

"I'm not sick or anything." He said when he saw Wallace's quizzical look. Wallace took hold of the bottle quickly, muttering out a silent _Thanks_ while trying to forget the sensation of his fingers brushing Jacob's.

* * *

Wallace closed the front door behind him, blood rushing to his face and making hims dizzy, and although fresh air still circulated in his lungs, he felt like he couldn't breathe at all—as if he had forgotten how to. He made sure to keep his beat-red face pointing down wards, only facing the ground, with burning tears of anger pricking behind his eyes. Nauseated and dizzy, with an invisible chain tightening closer around his lungs still. He kicked off his shoes, tossed his bag pack, tore off his jacket, swung his bag pack over his shoulder again and went up to his room, not even bothering saying hi to his dad; who kept yelling after him in the back ground, asking how practice had been-the absence of his mum's voice reminded Wallace she was working over time today.

He ignored Sheila's dancing around him, and pushed off Sakura when she tried to hug him, then he entered his room and slammed the door after him, the world spinning around him as he felt himself hyperventilating. With a thud he tossed his bag pack to the floor and then he let himself slump onto his bed resting the back of his hand on his forehead while he looked emptily into the ceiling.

A laughter echoed in his head and aquamarine eyes send a flash of lightning throughout his entire body, which made his heart speed up so much he was sure he was going to vomit, and he found himself punching his fist hard into the bed while letting out a pathetic groan before covering his eyes with the palm of hands.

"Why can't you just get out of my head?" He mumbled to himself, on the verge of a nervous break down; then a knock came from the door and Wallace sat up quickly. "Yeah?" He replied, quickly drying away his on-pressing tears and taking a deep breath.

"Hey junior." Wally said softly, poking his head inside carefully. "Can I come in?"

"Why?" Wallace scoffed, unintentionally venting some of his anger and confusion out on Wally.

"You seem troubled, and I suppose I just wanted to know what's bugging you. If you feel like talking that is."

Wallace looked up for a moment, autumn meeting emerald, and he found himself starting to hyperventilate again while he started to burn on the inside. If he didn't tell and get this out of his system, he was sure he would go crazy from it, but if he did tell, what would his dad then say? What would his mum say for that matter?

"Something is wrong with me." He blurted out, his throat tying itself into a knot which made his voice groggy. As Wally stepped in and closed the door behind him, Wallace cursed himself for having opened up. This was dumb.

Wally sat at the edge of Wallace's bed and looked to his son, not pushing him to go on. If he really wanted to talk it would be in his time and not because Wally kept nagging him. The silence stretched and Wallace placed his head in his palms, massaging his templates softly. He kept heaving in heavy and loud sighs, as though unsure of whether he should go on or not, and Wally decided it would be worth a try to give him a gentle shove.

"What do you mean, something's wrong with you?" He asked, confusion coating his gentle voice.

"Well… I just…" Wallace heaved in again, feeling more like he had jumped into the ocean where he couldn't reach the bottom, and his body was getting tired of swimming.

He would drown very soon, and everything around him would darken and shatter, sending him to a bottomless pit where no one would ever be able to help him. It didn't matter now, he had started this conversation already, so he heaved in yet another sigh and decided to just finish what he had started.

"There is this person." He gave in. "I have tried and tried and tried, but no matter what I just… I can't stop thinking about… And they distract me and preoccupy my mind, and I find myself being weird around… I can't…" He started breathing heavily while his lungs felt like they were cramping and being crushed.

Wally couldn't help but let out a light chuckle when he saw the distressed look on Wallace's face, while he tried to remember his teen years and how it felt to have hormones go crazy, like a ping-pong match of emotions that kept changing and replacing each other.

"Wallace." He chuckled lightly, trying to subdue his laughter when he saw Wallace's somewhat angered expression. "Having a crush on someone is not that big a deal. I know it probably confuses you because you also have a bunch of hormones running 'round, but trust me, there's nothing abnormal about being attracted to someone."

"I am not—" Wallace stopped himself from denying what he knew what true, and instead he found panic took over once again as the words just spilled right out of his mouth. "It's not what you think, this is different, this is… _Wrong_. It's not normal dad, I'm telling you, there's something wrong with me, I must be sick or something! I am not supposed to be feeling like this. It's not right.

"I have tried and tried and tried, but no matter what I do I just…" His tears finally shed and he found his body trembling. Why did this have to happen to him? "I can't get him out of my head dad, and it's just so confusing! I am _not_ supposed to be feeling like this for a _guy_!"

Everything was just confusing, and a million of questions were running around in his head, playing tag with each other and his feelings. He was scared what people would think if they ever learned that he was having these feelings, for a guy nonetheless! And what if the guy himself found out? Everything would break between the two of them for sure.

"Wallace." Wally sighed, scooting a bit closer, but not putting his hand on his son's shoulder in case he would find it too suffocating. "What makes you think this is wrong?"

"I don't know." Wally sighed, trying desperately to hide his sobs. "It's just… Not normal…"

"Just because it doesn't satisfy the norm doesn't mean it's wrong." Wally chuckled, then he decided to catch Wallace's full attention by finally putting a hand on his shoulder. "There is nothing wrong with feeling the way you're feeling, and there _certainly_ is nothing wrong with you. I know some people might try to tell you differently, probably because they don't fully understand this; but there is absolutely nothing wrong with you.

"I understand it confuses you, though, to be honest I thought they had started teaching you a bit about this in school?"

"I think they do a bit in psychology." Wallace shrugged. "Doesn't stop the fact that there still are people who don't like people like me. You know, people who are…" For some reason he couldn't really get himself to say the word, as if saying it and making it official would doom him.

"Gay?" Wally finished for him, sending him a little smile.

"Yeah." Wallace sighed, lowering his head. "You must feel ashamed of me, huh?" He snickered, more hysterically than amused.

"Why would I feel ashamed of you?" Wally asked dumbfounded. "There's nothing wrong with you. It's not like you've done drugs, or committed a crime or anything."

"Yeah." Wallace sighed, feeling like a massive weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Not just because he had been accepted yet again by his dad, but because he also wasn't getting judged, and because it genuinely sounded like it didn't bother Wally at all, whether Wallace liked boys or girls, or maybe even both. Still something inside him felt a little uncertain.

"Did you really mean what you said?" Wallace asked. "About nothing being wrong with me?"

"Of course." Wally shrugged, patting his son's back softly. "You're my son, I accept you for who you are no matter what. Well… If you started doing drugs or committing crimes I would get incredibly disappointed in you, and murdering someone might make me disown you, but at the end of the day you're still my son. To me it doesn't really matter who you have feelings for, as long as you don't just go in it for their body."

"Of course not!" Wallace scolded. "It's his God damn eyes. That and the way he talks, and laughs and, everything really. But mostly his eyes."

"What's his name?" Wally asked, just to get a look from Wallace that practically said _Really? I just came out and you already want to know?_ "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to of course."

"Nah, it's okay. I'll probably end up telling you someday anyway, just for the sake of getting it off my chest. His name is Jacob. We're biology partners and we're both on the team, except he plays second-string because coach thinks he reacts a bit too slow. He'll get there one day." Wallace let out a little sigh and let himself wander off into a fantasy in which Jacob was just smiling that stupid smile of his. "We're pretty good friends you know, so I'm not going to tell him. I don't want it to be awkward or anything in case he's not… You know."

Wally nodded a bit, considering whether or not he should tell Wallace he could just say _gay_ because nothing was wrong with it, but something about Wallace's tone made him think his son had already understood that.

"Can you do me a favour though, dad?"

"Sure, what do you need?"

"Don't tell mum yet; or anyone else for that matter. I just really need to come to terms with this, then I'll tell myself."

"Sure, of course. But just remember what I said: there is absolutely nothing wrong with you junior." Wally gave Wallace a pat on the back while giving him a smile, which was quickly returned by the now-calmed boy.

"Thanks dad." Wallace grinned, giving his dad a quick hug. Having Wally was ten times better than getting frustrated about why Marcus—a man he couldn't even remember—had left.

* * *

**See, the reason I had thought this was going to be part of the previous chapter was because they both have the theme of Wally comforting Wallace about something rather important. Seeing the length of both chapters I do like my decision to split them up though :)**

**I am really hoping you won't feel tossed off by this either, it just kind of happened and I wasn't really going to stop it.**

**Anyways: criticism and/or advices on improvement is/are highly appreciated and welcome :)**

**~*~TippierCoffee~*~**


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